Page 17 - Family Law Services

Court-Appointed Expert

In the role of a court-appointed expert, the CPA has the responsibility of providing a knowledgeable, ob-
jective, and supported opinion to the trier of fact. The CPA should obtain a clear understanding of the

• assignment and form of the CPA’s report, due dates for completion, and required court appear-
ances.

• form of communication of the expert’s opinion.

• acceptable form of the CPA’s communication with any of the parties and their attorneys.

• procedure to be followed if the CPA does not receive sufficient information during discovery to
perform the work requested by the court.

• arrangement for fee responsibility. fn 1

Mutually Agreed-Upon Expert

In the role of a mutually agreed-upon expert, the CPA typically has the responsibility of offering a
knowledgeable, objective, and supported opinion to provide the parties a common basis from which they
can proceed. The CPA should obtain a clear understanding of the

• form of communication of the expert’s opinion.

• acceptable form of the CPA’s communication with any of the parties and their attorneys.

• responsibility, timing, method, and amount of payment from each party or attorney involved in
the marital dispute.

Client-Retained Expert

The role of an expert working for one party is very similar to that of a neutral in that the CPA expert is
gathering information and forming objective opinions related to financial matters of the case. The differ-
ence is the expert is engaged and working for only one side throughout the proceedings.

fn 1 A member engaged as an expert witness in a litigation engagement may not provide opinions pursuant to a contin-
gent fee arrangement, unless explicitly allowed otherwise under the “Contingent Fees Rule” (ET sec. 1.510.001), and State-
ment on Standards for Forensic Services (SSFS) No. 1 (FS sec. 100).

All ET sections can be found in AICPA Professional Standards.

All FS sections can be found in AICPA Professional Standards.

© 2020 Association of International Certified Professional Accountants 15