sole owner of a business that receives a significant amount of cash income, it is very important that you hire an expert to evaluate that business. The first step is to determine the amount of cash that will be coming through the business. It is also important early on that you have a realistic assessment of the cost benefit analysis for hiring this expert. It is important to sit down with your attorney and that expert to get a realistic handle on what you can expect. The last thing you want to do is spend thousands of dollars with an expert and at the end of the day you’re no further along in establishing what kind of cash you believe is there. One of the first things we look at is what is your reportable income versus your household expenses. For example, if your spouse is reporting income of $50,000 yet your household expenses are $200,000, or it takes $200,000 per year to run the household, this is a red flag that cash is not being reported. Typically, an expert is going to want to do an onsite inspection. That is, the expert is going to want to go out and at random times interview key employees about your spouse’s business to get a realistic assessment of how the business operates.]]>