Family Law Forensic Accounting and Divorce
This is the website for Robin Cooke, widely regarded as the innovator that first brought about the concept of an in-house forensic accountant, working as part of a divorce (Family Law) firm. All this tracing back to the start of the current Millennium. Robin has now worked within three different law firms. He has worked as an in-house forensic accountant in divorce (Family Law) since 2000. Prior to that he worked on individual Family Law assignments for many of the leading divorce firms in London and around the country including Bristol, Birmingham, Coventry and Manchester. In divorce, forensic accounting focuses on assets that are hidden or incorrectly valued. Robin is an E&Y alumni and has specialised in forensic and valuation work for over thirty years.
The in-house forensic accountant role is important in divorce so that outline indications of values are immediately available. Which court proceedings are commenced in can depend on the values and complexities involved in a case. In England & Wales the Family Law courts favour use of one Single Joint Expert, to value for both parties. So it is regarded as very desirable that an in-house forensic accountant can shadow and indicate if the valuations are open to challenge. The valuations of a business or company are inherently subjective. Robin has encountered valuations in divorce that are altered by more than £1million as a result of this review.
Interview of Robin
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Where does the name Family Law Forensic come from?
I used the description Family Law Forensic on some early marketing literature and the phrase stuck. A number of divorce solicitor firms started to send me instructions addressed as Family Law Forensic and later I incorporated Family Law Forensic Ltd.
What started you doing this Divorce related work?
I was doing a good deal of heavyweight Merger & Acquisition work in my late twenties so I was encountering valuations in the real world, rather than in an academic sense. That started me doing forensic accounting work involving disputes and then also in divorce.
What about hidden assets?
A feature of divorce cases can be hidden assets and forensic accounting techniques can be employed to trace them. Incorrect valuations can though be as common or more common and this is a key part of forensic accounting in divorce.
Do text books help?
Well I have contributed to some textbooks so I would have to say yes. Though valuations remain subjective and real life experience of negotiating deals is usually the most helpful. You would perhaps have less confidence in a house valuer that had never actually sold a house. The way in which the price is worked out on Mergers & Acquisition is often complex. Horse trading can apply as to what warranties are included, which influences price (values). Unless you were party to the transaction it can sometimes be difficult to work out what underpinned a price, although forensic accounting techniques can help. Valuations in divorce can be some of the more difficult.
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