The Divorce Lifestyle Analysis

A lifestyle analysis is something done by a divorce financial analyst (like me!) to figure out where the money went. Sometimes I do a lifestyle analysis because we just need to know how much money was spent during the last year or two, and what the money was spent on. Other times I do it because one spouse suspects that money has been hidden or spent improperly.

How do I do it? In an ordinary lifestyle analysis, I get all of the transactions from bank, brokerage and credit card statements,  and I categorize them and calculate totals for each category. The results ca be used to see what you and your spouse have historically spent, and we might use that to help calculate how much spousal support or child support should be paid. We can also use the results to see if someone was wasting or dissipating martial assets.

More importantly, the lifestyle analysis can be used to uncover hidden income and assets, or help prove that one spouse is living a lifestyle that exceeds the reported sources of income.

The typical lifestyle analysis may only scratch the surface of the financial facts of the case, leaving behind important clues about the finances of the parties. Digging deeper can uncover hidden finances that may have otherwise been overlooked.