What A CDFA Does

What A CDFA Does

When one or more parties to a marriage decide to divorce, the ultimate impact of the decision can be devastating.

Devastating not only to the individuals involved but also to the children, family, friends, and employers of the divorcing couple. Divorce has a traumatic emotional impact but also a traumatic financial impact. The emotional whirlwind often interferes with the parties’ ability to think rationally and impartially about their financial situation. Unfortunately, the financial decisions made during the divorce will set the foundation for each party’s economic future, and making mistakes during the divorce can place a party at a permanent disadvantage.

Divorce attorneys, financial planners, and accountants can provide critical advice during the divorce.  However, with rare exceptions, they lack the specialized knowledge required to analyze financial issues in the light of a divorce proceeding. Worse, they may be unaware that they do not have the required knowledge and end up finding out what they should have known only after the divorce has been finalized.  The solution to this problem is the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA).

A CDFA is a professional who comes from a financial planning, accounting, or legal background and goes through an intensive training program to become skilled at analyzing and providing expertise on the financial issues of divorce.

The CDFA’s role is to ensure the clients and their lawyers fully understand how the financial decisions they make during the divorce will impact their financial future. The CDFA’s first task is to ensure the client has a working understanding of key elements of the divorce process, such as:

  • The difference between personal and marital property
  • How property is valued and divided
  • Retirement and pensions
  • Spousal and child support
  • Whether the client can afford to keep the house
  • Tax problems and solutions
  • The importance of making decisions based on facts and data, not emotions and a desire for vengeance.

A CDFA will also work with the client to eliminate common mistakes many divorcing parties make due to emotional distress or simple lack of understanding. Some of these mistakes are:

  • Insisting on keeping the marital house even when the client cannot afford it
  • Incorrectly accounting for income tax and capital gains tax implications when deciding which assets each party will keep.
  • Inadequately forecasting the long-term economic impact of settlement terms
  • Failing to account for the time value of money and related economic concepts when valuing monetary assets—particularly treating retirement assets as having the same real value as other financial assets with similar nominal values
  • Dividing marital debts on an overly simplistic basis, like nominal dollar value, without considering other elements like the type of debt, interest rate, payment terms, etc.

The CDFA professional can provide a litany of the services like expert witnesses, assisting with drafting discovery requests, helping prepare the client for mediation, and many others.

The CDFA professional is a bridge that helps the attorneys, the client, and other entities work together to an economically optimal outcome.

Call Us today to schedule your consultation!

When one or more parties to a marriage decide to divorce, the ultimate impact of the decision can be devastating.

Devastating not only to the individuals involved but also to the children, family, friends, and employers of the divorcing couple. Divorce has a traumatic emotional impact but also a traumatic financial impact. The emotional whirlwind often interferes with the parties’ ability to think rationally and impartially about their financial situation. Unfortunately, the financial decisions made during the divorce will set the foundation for each party’s economic future, and making mistakes during the divorce can place a party at a permanent disadvantage.

Divorce attorneys, financial planners, and accountants can provide critical advice during the divorce.  However, with rare exceptions, they lack the specialized knowledge required to analyze financial issues in the light of a divorce proceeding. Worse, they may be unaware that they do not have the required knowledge and end up finding out what they should have known only after the divorce has been finalized.  The solution to this problem is the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA).

A CDFA is a professional who comes from a financial planning, accounting, or legal background and goes through an intensive training program to become skilled at analyzing and providing expertise on the financial issues of divorce.

The CDFA’s role is to ensure the clients and their lawyers fully understand how the financial decisions they make during the divorce will impact their financial future. The CDFA’s first task is to ensure the client has a working understanding of key elements of the divorce process, such as:

  • The difference between personal and marital property
  • How property is valued and divided
  • Retirement and pensions
  • Spousal and child support
    • Whether the client can afford to keep the house
    • Tax problems and solutions
    • The importance of making decisions based on facts and data, not emotions and a desire for vengeance.

A CDFA will also work with the client to eliminate common mistakes many divorcing parties make due to emotional distress or simple lack of understanding. Some of these mistakes are:

  • Insisting on keeping the marital house even when the client cannot afford it
  • Incorrectly accounting for income tax and capital gains tax implications when deciding which assets each party will keep.
  • Inadequately forecasting the long-term economic impact of settlement terms
  • Failing to account for the time value of money and related economic concepts when valuing monetary assets—particularly treating retirement assets as having the same real value as other financial assets with similar nominal values
  • Dividing marital debts on an overly simplistic basis, like nominal dollar value, without considering other elements like the type of debt, interest rate, payment terms, etc.

The CDFA professional can provide a litany of the services like expert witnesses, assisting with drafting discovery requests, helping prepare the client for mediation, and many others.

The CDFA professional is a bridge that helps the attorneys, the client, and other entities work together to an economically optimal outcome.

Call Us today to schedule your consultation!

We're Here To Help

To learn more about how a CDFA professional can put their clients on the road towards a brighter financial future, please contact us by calling, emailing, or filling out our form.

We're Here To Help

To learn more about how a CDFA professional can put their clients on the road towards a brighter financial future, please contact us by calling, emailing, or filling out our form.