Duncan Calder on Divorce Finding Hidden Assets

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Duncan Calder on Divorce Finding hidden assets
Duncan Calder
Duncan Calder on Divorce Finding hidden assets
- Duncan Calder, former KPMG senior partner and
head of its W.A. forensic services and business
valuations practices advises you of the signs
that you need to look for that your spouse may be
hiding assets from you during your divorce.
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Have you considered Is my spouse hiding assets
from me? Hiding assets during a divorce is both
sneaky and unethical but, sadly, it happens
much more frequently than most people expect.
Concealing money, property, and liabilities is
illegal, but that doesnt always act as a
deterrent. If you have always left money matters
to your spouse and are now either considering
divorce or in the middle of one, financial
infidelity can affect what assets you receive and
how much you are awarded in alimony and child
support. Calder, who runs the boutique forensic
services and business valuations firm, Contour
Capital, argues that the following are some of
the typical ways that your spouse could
potentially hide money and assets from you.
Skimming cash from the business. This is
especially prevalent wherever cash transactions
can happen.  Underreporting income on tax
returns and/or financial statements. If its not
reported, it cant be used in a financial
analysis. 
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 Delaying signing business contracts until after
the divorce in order to lower the value of the
business during the valuation process and also to
present the business as being in a vulnerable or
declining financial position for the purpose of
reducing spousal maintenance or child
support.  Overpaying creditors including the
taxman. He/ she can get the refund later, after
the divorce is final.  Creating phony debt or
transferring assets. Your spouse can collude with
family members and/or friends to establish fake
loans or expenses knowing that all the money will
be returned after the divorce is final.  Paying
money from the business to a trusted third party
such as the spouses father, mother, girlfriend,
boyfriend or close associate.  Deferring income
entitlements such as bonuses and payments from
debtors until after the divorce settlement is
negotiated.
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The likelihood of uncovering these various
schemes increases dramatically IF you use of a
skilled forensic accountant (such as Contour
Capital) with substantial experience in business
valuation and accounting. Once a forensic
accountant analyses a couples marital living
expenses and connects those expenses to all known
sources of income, assets and loans, he can see
if there is a mismatch. If the amount of living
expenses exceeds the amounts of known income,
assets and loans, a giant red flag appears!
Discrepancies like this are one telltale sign of
concealed income and/or assets. Remember At
one point in time, your spouse was not scamming
the marriage was good. Finding that benchmark
point in time is one way a forensic accountant
will figure out ways to triangulate what is
truth and what is deception. Calder, who has
spent more than two decades helping people work
through complex family court matter provides
advice on how to uncover your spouses ruses to
rip you off.
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How can hidden assets, hidden sources of income
or understated income come to light during
divorce proceedings? Forensic accountants are
routinely engaged in divorces to look for these
things such as unreported income and under the
table cash. How are they going to find that?
Looking at cash flowing out of business accounts
or into private accounts  A good forensic
accountant is going to be analysing all sources
of business income and look for examples of
increasing the expenses or cash outflows of the
business during the post separation and divorce
period to decrease business profitability in an
attempt to minimise the marital settlement. The
ATO is also likely to look at these areas of
misreported or underreported income. They are
going to ask about cash transactions, cash on
deposit, asset and share transfers (with and
without consideration). If the Forensic
Accountant asks questions in a court context or
pursuant to an ATO investigation, the spouse may
be forced to commit perjury in order to conceal
the actions taken to artificially (and
temporarily) reduce or shift the value of a
business.
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Duncan Calder, based in Australia, sees that the
role of forensic specialists, like Contour
Capital, is to uncover the truth and endure that
the Court is aware of the true financial position
of parties to divorce proceedings.
Media ContactCompany Name Contour
CapitalContact Person Duncan CalderEmail Send
EmailPhone 61 439 299 817Country Australia
Sources  http//www.newson6.com/story/39400806/du
ncan-calder-on-divorce-finding-hidden-assets
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Source Link http//www.newson6.com/story/39400806
/duncan-calder-on-divorce-finding-hidden-assets Th
anks for Watching Duncan Calder PO Box 1431,
South Perth WA 6951 duncan.calder_at_manna.org.au htt
ps//www.manna.org.au/