Family Law Disputes

Consulting and testifying on marital dissolutions involving estates and families of all sizes and complexities requires knowledge and expertise. Our family law professionals help attorneys and their clients understand and resolve a wide range of complex financial issues that affect the fair and equitable division of a marital estate.

Whether in the eyes of a party or a lawyer, family law cases easily become all-encompassing matters of details, chronologies, accounting, and a myriad other specifics. In divorce matters, among the many factors to consider and evaluate, financial aspects prove critical.

Family Law Services Related to Marital Dissolutions

Weaver’s professionals possess advanced degrees and certifications including in areas such as accounting and finance (CPA, CFA), valuation (ASA, CVA, ABV) and fraud and financial forensics (CFE, CFF). We are uniquely positioned to provide efficient, responsive and unbiased analyses to help resolve matters outside the courtroom. In addition, we are equipped to offer impartial and persuasive testimony that withstands cross-examination. 

Asset Tracing and Characterization

In many cases, spouses possess assets characterized as “separate property” that may or may not be subject to division by the court in a divorce. Weaver’s forensic and litigation professionals perform asset tracing and characterization analyses supported by underlying documents and other evidence.

Our family law team has experience tracing almost any type of asset or liability back to inception of title (when the asset or liability was acquired), including interests in closely held businesses, real estate, brokerage and bank accounts, retirement accounts, deferred compensation (including options and other equity-based awards), personal property and other assets. Our professionals have experience with tracing assets and liabilities through multiple mutations, and in some cases multiple marriages. We carefully consider and select the most appropriate tracing methodology given the facts of the case and relevant case law. 

Claims for Reimbursement

We also have significant experience in identifying and quantifying claims for reimbursement between different marital estates, including claims against a spouse’s separate property on behalf of the community estate.

Valuation of Assets

Spouses who can agree on little else are unlikely to agree on the value of their property, especially hard-to-value assets such as closely held business interests, equity-based compensation, or intellectual property. Weaver can determine fair and reasonable market values for such assets, supported by documentation that will stand up to challenges in court.

Having completed hundreds of business and intangible asset valuations, our professionals combine finance and accounting knowledge with sophisticated valuation techniques to provide defendable valuations of even the most complex assets. Our valuation analyses consider critical issues impacting valuations in divorce, including reasonable compensation and personal goodwill. Additionally, our licensed real estate appraisers provide well-researched and data-driven analyses at a local and national level, as needed.

Our Family Law Services Include:

• Identifying and obtaining relevant discovery material and information
• Reconstructing records for purposes of tracing financial transactions
• Analyzing complex financial transactions and relationships
• Identifying, tracing and characterizing separate and community property
• Identifying and quantifying financial claims between marital estates
• Valuing assets, including complex corporate structures or alternative assets
• Analyzing the impact of debt incurred during the marriage
• Evaluating and critiquing opposing expert reports
• Assisting with mediation and settlement negotiations, including analyzing future tax implications to guide the structure of settlements
• Providing expert witness testimony at hearings, depositions and trials
• Preparing demonstrative trial exhibits to assist the judge or jury
• Assisting with deposition and cross-examination of opposing financial experts