Mercer Capital’s Litigation Support Teams is excited to share our newly published resource Navigating Tax Returns | Tips and Key Focus Areas for Family Law Attorneys and Divorcing Individuals/Business Owners. This piece is designed to help you better understand how to navigate tax returns on behalf of your clients.
The valuation of stock options is a complex issue that divorcing parties may face during the determination and division of the marital estate. Designed as compensation to both reward past performance and retain employees in the future, these benefits can be difficult to value, particularly at a specific point in time for the purpose of marital dissolution. In this article, we walk through an example of how to value a not so simple stock option situation – one in a start-up company.
In each “Meet the Team” segment, we highlight a different professional on our Family Law team. In this segment, we highlight David Harkins. David works in our Nashville office and is a member of the firm’s Litigation Services Support team.
Determining the value and classification of financial assets can be challenging during a divorce proceeding. The value of a couple’s closely held business could be the most valuable asset in the marital estate. If the business was owned prior to marriage, the identification and quantification of any appreciation as active or passive could be critical to the overall marital value placed on that asset.
In previous posts, we wrote about the income and market approaches used in business valuations. This article presents a broad overview of the third approach, the asset approach. While each approach should be considered, the approach(es) ultimately relied upon will depend on the unique facts and circumstances of each situation.
In each “Meet the Team” segment, we highlight a different professional on our Family Law team. This segment we highlight Chris Mercer. Chris is the Chariman here at Mercer and is active in family law litigation and corporate valuation.
This is the third of the three-part series where we focus on key areas to assist family lawyers and divorcing parties. Part III will concentrate on Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) and additional business-related schedules which can be useful in divorce proceedings.
In this article, we provide highlights from recent conferences attended, the 2021 AICPA & CIMA Forensic and Valuation Services Conference, the 2021 AAML Annual Meeting, and the AAML Foundation Luncheon.
This is the second of the three-part series where we focus on the key areas of tax returns to assist family lawyers and divorcing parties. Part II concentrates on Schedule A (Form 1040) Itemized Deductions.
In each “Meet the Team” segment, we highlight a different professional on our Family Law team. This segment we highlight Karolina Calhoun, CPA/ABV/CFF. Karolina is a Vice President here at Mercer and is active in family law litigation and corporate valuation.
In this article, we’ll be presenting a broad overview of the income approach. The final approach, the asset-based approach, will discussed in a future article. While each approach should be considered, the approach(es) ultimately relied upon will depend on the unique facts and circumstances of each situation.
In each “Meet the Team” segment, we highlight a different professional on our Family Law team. This segment we highlight Scott Womack, ASA, MAFF. Scott is a Senior Vice President here at Mercer and is active in family law litigation and corporate valuation. Scott also leads our Auto Dealership Industry team.
Knowing how to navigate key areas of Form 1040 can be quite useful in divorce proceedings. Information within the tax return can provide support for marital assets and liabilities, determination of spousal and child support, and potential further analyses. In this post we discuss why a Form 1040 could be important in divorce proceedings and some key areas of focus.
This article presents a broad overview of the market approach, which is one of the three (the other two being asset and income) approaches utilized in business valuations.
The discount rate is the key factor in business valuation that converts future dollars into present value as of the valuation date. In this article, we examine the various components of a discount rate. Then, we relate the discount rate to rates of return of other investments that should provide a commonsense road map for what is reasonable and what is not.
Personal goodwill was an issue in several of our recent litigated divorce engagements. It is more prevalent in certain industries than others and varies from matter to matter. However, although there are several accepted methodologies to determine personal goodwill, there is not a textbook that discusses where it exists and where it doesn’t. Before any attempts to measure and quantify it, an important question to ask is “Does it exist?” Often with ambiguous concepts like personal goodwill, the adage “you know it when you see it” is most appropriate. In this article, we examine personal and enterprise goodwill using a specific fact pattern unique to the auto dealership industry. Beyond this illustrative example, the analyses can be applied in other industries, but must be considered carefully for the unique facts and circumstances of each matter.
The valuation date represents the point in time at which the business, or business interest(s), is being valued. Understanding the valuation date of an asset valuation, such as a privately held business, for marital dissolution is an important consideration, especially for matters which have extended over a lengthy time and those that may be impacted by significant global events such as COVID-19. An accurate and timely valuation should consider current conditions and future expectations.
The valuation of stock options is a complex issue that divorcing parties may face during the determination and division of property. Designed to both reward performance and retain employees, these benefits can be difficult to value, particularly at a random moment for the purpose of marital dissolution.
AICPA Issues New Forensic Services Standards
Most family law cases settle at mediation or prior to trial. For example, Tennessee requires that parties must attempt to settle their cases at mediation prior to granting a trial date. Considering both of these facts, when should a family law attorney involve a financial expert in divorce mediations?
In our family law practice, we serve as valuation and financial forensic expert witnesses. There is typically another valuation expert on “the other side.” In several recent engagements, the following topics, posed as questions here, were raised as points of contention. We present them here to help the reader, whether you are a family law attorney or a party to a divorce, understand certain valuation-related issues that may be raised in your matter.
What is a client, attorney, or judge to think when significantly different valuation conclusions are present? The answer to the reasonableness of one or both conclusions lies in the reasonableness of the appraisers’ assumptions. However, valuation is more than “proving” that each and every assumption is reasonable. Valuation also involves proving the overall reasonableness of an appraiser’s conclusion.
On May 8-10, 2019, Mercer Capital attended the 2019 AAML/BVR National Divorce Conference in Las Vegas. This was the first biannual National Divorce Conference on cutting edge tax, valuation, and financial issues co-sponsored by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and Business Valuation Resources, LLC. We have chosen four sessions that we thought would be of interest.
What is a collaborative divorce and how do they work? This article provides an overview of the model and some advantages of the process.