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 We are grateful to have the opportunity to provide you this valuable information via our monthly e-newsletter and our
unparalleled forensic accounting and
fraud investigative services.
The goal of this e-newsletter is to provide you critical, inside information that will help you "follow the money" in business disputes, divorce cases, fraud cases, estate matters, corporate embezzlement and to prevail when defending an IRS criminal case. We will do this by sharing the knowledge we have from our 25+ years of experience as an IRS Special Agent and 15 years as a private investigator / forensic accountant.
We take special care to ensure the information we provide you in "The Beacon" is the latest and most current information available.
In this edition, we teach you about personal vs. enterprise goodwill.
We want to write about topics that will assist you in prevailing with criminal or civil cases whether IRS cases or divorce cases. Please e-mail us your topics of interest to
[email protected]
We encourage you to share our e-newsletter with others in your sphere of influence.
Sincerely,
Edmond J. Martin
Principal, Chief Investigator
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
Texas Certified Investigator (TCI)
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Personal vs. Enterprise Goodwill
 The burden of proof for the party claiming separate property, the value of tracing funds that acquired real property assets, and a determination of goodwill are very important elements in family law matters. The husband in this scenario was a successful pediatrician and the wife was a homemaker. During their marriage, the wife inherited a substantial amount of money from her mother's estate. Fortunately, for her, she was the executrix of her mother's will and kept very good records. During their marriage, they purchased several pieces of real property and used separate property funds as well as community property funds.
During the investigation and tracing of the funds used to purchase the properties, the wife provided all of the probate documents and all the bank statements and canceled checks for the separate property account. This enabled the preparation of a perfect tracing of her separate property. She had recognized the importance of maintaining good records of her separate property early on. In Texas, the Family Code requires the party claiming separate property ownership to prove the property was purchased with separate funds and to carry the burden of proof, which is clear and convincing evidence. Otherwise, the property is presumed to be community property. Ultimately, her forensic accountant and expert witness were able to demonstrate and prove to the court that her separate property funds were used to purchase the properties. The court ruled in her favor and she was awarded the real estate since each property was joint ownership.
With respect to the husband's medical practice, the attorney for the wife had the practice valued thinking the value would only be the value of the business assets and personal (professional) goodwill and not the business (enterprise) goodwill. When the forensic accountant examined the practice, it was discovered the physician had four physician's assistants who saw ninety percent of the patients and generated commensurate revenue. The revenue they generated was enterprise goodwill, which increased the business value from $50,000 personal professional goodwill to $500,000 for enterprise goodwill.
Goodwill in family law is the value of a...
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About Us
Serving your needs is our priority.  At Sage Investigations we are dedicated to serving our clients nationally, to help them navigate the difficulties of dealing with the IRS, and other complex (forensic) financial fraud investigations both civil and criminal. By narrowing our focus to our primary strength of following the money, we steer our knowledge, efforts, and experience to financial issues. We help our clients propel their cases forward by assisting in the review, acquisition, and organization of financial records, evaluating the elements of their cases, and helping create winning strategies. Through the use of our proprietary advanced financial investigative technology we analyze complex financial data quickly, easily and efficiently, saving our client's time and money. Sage handles all cases with altruism, professionalism, honesty, integrity, passion and respect. When you hire Sage, you hire a team of professionals with skill and knowledge that helps you have more effective solutions. We are innovative with our DIO cutting edge technology, and perform every investigation in an orderly and organized manner to develop a clear investigative roadmap and deliver a quality work product. The compass that guides us is strong leadership and accountability. Learn more... Contact Us
P.O. Box 160161
Austin, TX 78716 Phone: 512-659-3179 Fax: 512-328-6878 Email: [email protected] www.sageinvestigations.com Texas License #A10803 |
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