Your Forensic Accountant and You: David Harper Teaches the Numbers Behind Your Divorce

Bringing in a "forensic accountant" to your divorce team sounds serious, and it is. But it's far from the dour experience the title implies. In fact, having an expert in understanding the numbers in your divorce can play an invaluable role in creating a clear, accurate, and fair split.

As you listen, if you're not a numbers person (as Pete is certainly not), you might find the thought of the whole endeavor overwhelming. Is this an audit? How invasive is it? What will you have to provide? Yes, it's a lot, but with David's help, it's much more approachable than you imagine.

In addition, David shares his role in collaborative divorce, an alternative to litigation, and how you can work with your attorney and team toward interest-based bargaining that may be a more peaceful approach for your divorce.

About David Harper

David Harper and his firm, Westbay CPAs, specialize in litigation support services in financial matters involving forensic accounting and business valuation. In addition to his role as expert witness in litigated cases, Mr. Harper also serves as financial neutral in many collaborative cases, and is also part of a training team who has trained over 400 professionals across the country and around the world in the collaborative process.

(00:00) - Welcome to How to Split a Toaster
(00:50) - David Harper, Forensic Accountant
(02:09) - What Is a Forensic Accountant?
(04:48) - Vacation Days
(06:20) - Two Buckets
(07:44) - Who Brings Them In
(12:06) - Client Involvement
(13:22) - Not Quite an Audit
(15:55) - Collaborative Divorce
(19:30) - Getting to the Why
(22:32) - Dealing With Conflict
(26:30) - Discovery
(27:28) - Incomplete or Manipulated Information
(31:30) - Listener Question
(38:59) - Jurisdictions
(39:54) - Finding David
(40:20) - Wrapping Up