Lifestyle Analysis in Divorce Cases: Investigating Spending and Finding Hidden Income and Assets - 3rd Edition - Tracy Coenen

Lifestyle Analysis in Divorce Cases: Investigating Spending and Finding Hidden Income and Assets, 3rd Edition Tracy Coenen ISBN 9781639054534

Lifestyle Analysis in Divorce Cases is an essential guide for attorneys, judges, and financial professionals navigating complex divorce proceedings involving significant financial matters. Increasingly, lifestyle analysis has become a critical tool in evaluating the standard of living for divorcing parties, uncovering hidden income, and informing support and property division calculations.

Author Tracy Coenen, CPA, CFF, provides a clear and logical framework for understanding and conducting lifestyle analyses. The book walks readers through the key documents—including tax returns, financial statements, and bank records—and explains how to extract meaningful insights to determine a couple’s standard of living. It also explores how a lifestyle analysis can be applied in prenuptial agreement evaluations and in detecting financial irregularities.

The guide begins with the factors used to assess a couple’s lifestyle, then examines which types of income should be included or excluded in family law calculations. To help attorneys determine when a lifestyle analysis is necessary, the book identifies common red flags indicating hidden assets or income, outlines strategies for gathering and managing critical documents, and provides a discovery framework from the financial expert’s perspective.

Additional chapters focus on key components of a lifestyle analysis, including:

• Analyzing historical spending patterns

• Locating hidden assets

• Evaluating business-related lifestyles

• Reporting findings and providing expert testimony

Practical appendices include a financial discovery checklist, a sample Form 1040 with supporting schedules, and a direct examination checklist—making this book an indispensable resource for anyone involved in financially complex divorce cases.

Lifestyle Analysis in Divorce Cases: Investigating Spending and Finding Hidden Income and Assets, 3rd Edition Tracy Coenen ISBN 9781639054534, 978-1639054534 & 9781639054541

Author
Tracy Coenen