Family Law
Representative cases:
Multiple cases involving the calculation of a separate v. community interest in unvested stock options, tracing of separate v. community property in retirement and other brokerage accounts, and tracing transfers of cash to and from multiple bank or brokerage accounts. Income calculations for temporary orders and maintenance payments. Mediation schedules including all community and separate property and equalization amounts.
SECOND SET OF BOOKS - Retained to recalculate actual income based on second set of financial records. Additional income supported by daily cash register receipts. Case decided at trial.
MULTI ISSUE PROPERTY DIVISION - Fortune 500 compensation case. Restricted stock account. Unvested stock options. Multiple deferred compensation accounts. Pro-ration of periodic bonuses. Tracing the separate interest in retirement accounts. Barnett/Jedynak (Drahos) calculation for marital residence.
THIRD PARTY INTERVENOR - Special Master Appointment for a complex dissolution proceeding involving a third-party intervenor. Case involved the tracing of sole and separate property from cash and stock brokerage accounts. Motion for Summary Judgment led to appeal and testimony at new trial. Wife continued to appeal but did not prevail in the appellate courts.
SPECIAL FINANCIAL MASTER - Special Financial Master appointed by the Arizona Superior Court for a ten year old marriage dissolution case in Maricopa County, Arizona. Estimated the value of Husband's construction business based on the forensic investigation of husband’s off balance sheet business activities. Wife obtained a separate valuation based on an alternative date. Bench trial.
HUG NELSON STOCK OPTION CALCULATIONS - Represented wife who was married to high level executive of large publicly held corporation. Calculated shares in restricted stock account and unvested stock option splits. Modeled estimated stock option value on day of mediation based on current market price and estimated tax rates. Traced separate interest in multiple company retirement plan programs. Calculated equalization amounts due based on possession Date of Service (DOS). Settled at mediation.
BARNETT/JEDYNAK (DRAHOS) CALCULATION - Expert for Husband. Calculation of the "community interest" in the parties' marital residence, held as sole and separate property by Husband prior to marriage. Required tracing of remodeling expenses and monthly mortgage payments made from community funds. Case settled.
PROPERTY HELD IN TRUST - Expert for Wife. Husband claimed most of the known assets were separate property based on the investment of "gifted" property in earlier years. Analysis required a multi-entity review of income tax returns, general ledgers, and bank statements. Cross transfers to and from joint checking accounts and a HELOC secured by the marital residence was also analyzed. Case settled during the trial.
ARIZONA JURISDICTIONAL BATTLE - Consulting expert for Husband, who lived and worked in a non-community property state. Wife was successful at moving case to Arizona jurisdiction forcing Husband to provide "clear and convincing" evidence in support of his separate property claim. Traced the deposits to and withdrawals from brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, limited partnerships, and real estate investments. Multiple scenarios provided for the mediation judge. Case settled.
OFF-SHORE BUSINESS INTERESTS - Expert for Wife. Retained to calculate the business income of both parties during the seventh year of a divorce proceeding. Successfully tied Husband to off-shore business interests not disclosed to the court. Wife granted a significant judgment by the Court.
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING OF MARITAL ESTATE - Appointed by Special Master to analyze and compile a comprehensive analysis of 40 individual assets including cash in banks, seller financing notes receivable, retirement and investment funds, stock brokerage accounts, vacant land, personal residences, two operating hotels, leased land, buildings, and equipment, and property held in trust. Included the input of a Certified Divorce Analyst. Case settled during mediation.