Mr. Pierce is regularly hired by family law attorneys and individuals involved in divorce litigation to provide the following services:

Business Valuation

• How do you divide a business when going through a divorce?
• How much is a small privately owned business worth?
• My spouse says the business cannot be sold...does it still have value in our divorce?

Business valuation is often the primary concern and the largest asset in a divorce. The business may be considered marital property and as such it is subject to division. In order to divide the business in a fair and equitable manner the value of the business must be determined. Mr. Pierce regularly determines the value of businesses using court accepted methodologies.

Apportionment of Assets

His vs. Hers vs. Theirs.

 

• I owned a house before we got married...is it still my house after we divorce?
• I have been saving for retirement before marriage, during marriage, and after separation...do I get to keep my retirement account?
• Who gets the stock options and restricted stock units that were granted during marriage?

Separate property claims are a common area of dispute. A separate property claim requires supporting documents and analysis. Mr. Pierce analyzes events that create separate and community property, events that create a community component to separate property, and events that reduce the separate or community component of property. He regularly performs real property apportionments (Moore-Marsden, Branco, Walrath, and Bono), apportionment calculations, as well as, business apportionments (Pereira and Van Camp), and stock related apportionments (Hug, Nelson, and Harrison).

Forensic Accounting

Where is it now?

 

• I inherited money during marriage...do I get to keep that money when we divorce?
• I had significant assets before we got married. During marriage we sold some of the assets and others we traded for new assets. Do I get credit for my assets when we divorce?

Mr. Pierce performs tracings of assets from separate property beginnings through all mutations and will clearly show that the resulting assets in existence at the date of valuation are either separate, community, or a combination of the two.

Marital Standard of Living

• What is marital standard of living?
• How do you estimate marital standard of living?
• We were savers, not spenders...is savings part of marital standard of living?

Mr. Pierce regularly analyzes income, spending, and lifestyle during marriage to determine the marital standard of living to be used as a basis for determining need and support.

Child Support and Alimony

Common financial questions during a divorce are:

 

Mr. Pierce performs temporary support calculations based on guideline formulas prescribed by state law. He also provides guidance to family law attorneys and individuals on long-term support. Mr. Pierce regularly analyzes each party's income available for support from all available sources taking into account earning capacity, earned and unearned income, assets, immediate and specific tax consequences, marital standard of living, and any other relative factors.