Some cases need more than a session or a review.
They need someone in your corner for the duration.
When the financial picture is complex enough that the outcome depends on who understands it best, this is what I do. I work alongside your attorney for weeks or months, building the financial case from the ground up.
Let's Talk About Your Situation →Based on case complexity
6-16 weeks
Analysis, modeling, narrative
Written settlement brief
Your attorney
What this is
Some divorces have a financial picture that's too tangled for a single session or review. A business that needs valuing. Executive compensation packages with stock options and deferred payouts. Multiple retirement accounts, real estate holdings, separate property claims that go back decades. Cases where one wrong assumption can cost six or seven figures.
When that's the situation, I come in as your financial expert for the full case. I work alongside your attorney for weeks or months. I trace every dollar, model every scenario, and produce a written settlement brief that tells the story the numbers are trying to tell. Your attorney handles the law. I handle the money. Together, your case has the strongest foundation possible.
This is not a review. This is the financial backbone of your case.
What I actually do
Every engagement is different, but these are the six areas where I focus my work.
01
Full discovery
I track down every asset, liability, income stream, and tax exposure. Not just what's on the table, but what's missing from it. Bank statements, tax returns, business records, benefit plans. I build the complete picture so nothing gets overlooked.
02
Scenario modeling
What does your life look like if you keep the house? If you take the retirement accounts instead? If you sell everything and split it clean? I model multiple futures with real projections, 5, 10, 20 years out, so you're choosing from clarity, not fear.
03
Tax strategy
Every way you divide assets has tax consequences. I calculate the after-tax value of everything, identify timing strategies, and flag hidden costs like depreciation recapture, capital gains, and early withdrawal penalties before they become surprises.
04
Settlement narrative
Most financial analysts produce spreadsheets. I write a settlement brief that explains the analysis in language everyone in the room can understand. These documents have stopped cases from going to trial and helped mediators break deadlocks.
05
Opposing expert review
When the other side brings their own financial analysis, I review it for weaknesses, unsupported assumptions, and calculation errors. Then I prepare your attorney to challenge what doesn't hold up.
06
Trial-ready testimony
If the case goes to trial, I can provide expert testimony. Every analysis I build is designed to withstand cross-examination. Every number is documented, sourced, and defensible.
I typically recommend this when...
Not every divorce needs this level of work. But some do. Here are the situations where I find it makes the biggest difference.
There's a business or partnership that needs to be valued, and the number matters a lot
One or both spouses have complex compensation (stock options, RSUs, deferred payouts) that makes the real income hard to pin down
Combined assets are over $2 million, where small percentage errors become very expensive
Someone is claiming certain assets are separate property (not part of the marriage), and that claim needs to be traced and verified
It was a long marriage (15 years or more) with deeply intertwined finances that are difficult to untangle
The case is contested or heading toward mediation or trial, and the financial story needs to be airtight
Sarah was a senior executive. Her compensation came in layers: salary, bonuses, stock options, grants, deferred compensation. Everyone looked at the statements and thought it was just paperwork. But a six-figure swing was hiding in a 15-year supplemental executive retirement plan that ran through their entire marriage. Peter almost walked away from money that was rightfully part of the marital estate because nobody peeled back the layers.
Executive compensation analysis, real clients (names changed)
Patricia's case took sixteen weeks. It changed everything.
Patricia's husband was in the middle of selling his company. He held 1.5 million shares of founder stock valued at over $3 million. His team classified those shares as a gift from his father, which would make them separate property, not subject to division. The paperwork was clean. One document showing the gift transfer.
But nobody had looked at what happened to the value of those shares during sixteen years of marriage. Share appreciation during a marriage is not automatically separate property. Nobody on her team had slowed down long enough to examine it.
Over the course of our engagement, I traced the original gift, separated the base value from the marital appreciation, and built the financial narrative that reframed the entire case.
I drafted a letter. We laid out the questions. The case came to a full stop. Patricia's settlement didn't improve. It tripled. Not because anyone was hiding something. Because nobody had asked the right questions until someone finally did.
This starts with a conversation.
Fill out the contact form and tell me about your situation. Be as specific as you can. If your case sounds like something I can help with, I'll reach out within a couple of business days and we'll set up a 30-minute call to talk through it.
No commitment. No pitch. Just a conversation about where you are, what you're facing, and whether this level of work is the right fit. If it's not, I'll point you to the service that makes more sense.
Tell me about your situationServing Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Boise, Seattle, Portland, and all of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.