{"id":221301,"date":"2023-12-17T10:33:47","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T10:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/?p=221301"},"modified":"2023-12-17T10:33:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T10:33:47","slug":"should-you-hire-a-forensic-accountant-during-a-divorce-meet-the-investigator-who-makes-a-living-from-uncovering-couples-hidden-assets-as-he-reveals-demand-for-his-services-has-exploded-among-ordi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/should-you-hire-a-forensic-accountant-during-a-divorce-meet-the-investigator-who-makes-a-living-from-uncovering-couples-hidden-assets-as-he-reveals-demand-for-his-services-has-exploded-among-ordi\/","title":{"rendered":"Should YOU hire a forensic accountant during a divorce? Meet the investigator who makes a living from uncovering couples’ hidden assets – as he reveals demand for his services has exploded among ordinary spouses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Whenever forensic accountant Hubert Klein takes on a new client, there is one question he has to answer first: is there a genuine grievance or are they just angry?<\/p>\n

Klein is increasingly hired for divorce cases where he trawls through reams of information to see if a spouse is hiding assets from their ex – meaning emotions are often running high.<\/p>\n

And the New York practitioner, with over 35 years’ experience, has seen it all. His cases have involved partners who burnt through the marital assets on sex and gambling addictions, stay-at-home parents who have spent years siphoning money away and he has even had his life threatened by a disgruntled ex-husband.<\/p>\n

‘Divorce is an emotion-driven process and people are desperate to stick pins in each other,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘People will come to us and say ‘he’s stolen all the money’ or ‘she’s stolen all the money’ and it’s our job to listen very carefully and find out the truth.’<\/p>\n

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Hubert Klein, pictured, has over 35 years of experience as a forensic accountant. He increasingly deals with divorce cases<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Forensic accountants are increasingly showing up in American courtrooms, with their help enlisted in a series of high-profile cases from <\/a><\/a>Kevin Costner<\/a>‘s divorce<\/a>\u00a0to the trial of FTX<\/a> founder Sam Bankman-Fried<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) – which regulates the profession – the number of accredited examiners has ballooned by 18 percent to 68,000 since 2018.<\/p>\n

But Klein says it is no longer just the rich and famous seeking out his services. Instead, a good bulk of his clients are ‘run-of-the-mill’ couples who work as teachers and union workers.<\/p>\n

He said: ‘People have more assets than they did when I first started this work. They have 401(K)s and properties – all assets that need to be split.’<\/p>\n

A forensic accountant is somebody trained in accounting and investigative techniques to comb through the records of an individual or business to trace funds that may have been hidden.<\/p>\n

Couples getting a divorce may go to one if the split is acrimonious and there is a complex asset of portfolios at stake. Often, one party is suspicious the true extent of the finances is being hidden. In the case of Costner and his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner<\/a>, both parties employed their own to assess the family accounts.<\/p>\n

They can charge thousands of dollars an hour for their service. As a partner, Klein charges an hourly rate of $635.<\/p>\n

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Forensic accountants are increasingly showing up in American courtrooms, with their help enlisted in a series of high-profile cases from Kevin Costner ‘s divorce. He is pictured with ex-wife Christine Baumgartner in 2015<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the case of the Yellowstone star, both parties employed their own to assess the family accounts. They are pictured in 2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He said: ‘I will meet with every client that wants to meet with me. But sometimes people come to me so convinced their partner is lying to them.<\/p>\n

‘When actually I can see right there it’s not worth them spending thousands of dollars on my services.’<\/p>\n

And many of the cases can be extremely complicated making it difficult to prove allegations.<\/p>\n

He recalls one situation whereby a man had hired his mistress through his company – meaning joint assets were being paid towards his new partner. Klein could only prove the case by showing highlighting how inexperienced the mistress was for the role she was being asked to do.<\/p>\n

In many cases, he adds the non-breadwinner in the couple has been squirreling money away for years to save for their future life.<\/p>\n

Klein said: ‘Marriages don’t break up overnight. It takes people a little while to fall in love and it take s them a while to fall out of it. So we see a lot of that ‘divorce planning.’<\/p>\n

Divorce laws in the US vary state-by-state. Some 41 states abide by the ‘Equitable Distribution’ rule which requires spouses to split all their assets, earnings, personal property and debts in a division that is fair – but not necessarily equal.<\/p>\n

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Forensic accountants have also been deployed in the case of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. He is pictured arriving in court in August this year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A judge will assess factors such as the length of the marriage and whether there are any children involved.<\/p>\n

But nine states – including California, Idaho and Texas – abide by the ‘Community Property’ rule where all shared assets in the marriage are split exactly 50\/50.<\/p>\n

A small number – including Tennessee and Florida – may allow spouses to opt into this framework if they meet certain requirements.<\/p>\n

As Klein notes, by the time a divorce is initiated, emotions are so strong partners are reluctant to share their assets.<\/p>\n

In one of his first cases straight out of college he recalls a husband following him out of the court and threatening his life.<\/p>\n

‘A judge once pulled me aside and said ‘look, there’s no shortage of miserable people in this world, we’ll always have money coming in,’ he said.<\/p>\n

‘The hardest part of the job is making sure you don’t become jaded about relationships.’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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