7 Ways a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst Differs From a Divorce Attorney: What a High Net Worth Divorce Financial Planner Adds
People going through a Massachusetts divorce often assume their attorney will handle the money questions too. Lawyers do address finances, but a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, or CDFA, approaches them from a different angle. For couples with significant investment accounts, equity compensation, or real estate, a high net worth divorce financial planner who holds the CDFA designation usually works alongside counsel rather than in place of it. Here are seven practical differences between the two roles, followed by five Boston-area financial firms to know.
How is a CDFA different from a divorce attorney?
1. How are they trained and licensed?
A divorce attorney is licensed to practice law, while a CDFA holds a financial certification. Massachusetts attorneys are admitted by the Supreme Judicial Court after passing the bar exam and are bound by the state’s Rules of Professional Conduct. The CDFA designation is granted by the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts after a four-module course and exam, and holders must complete 15 hours of divorce-related continuing education every two years.
2. Who can give legal advice?
Only the attorney. A CDFA can explain the financial consequences of a proposal, but deciding whether that proposal protects your legal rights, or drafting the agreement that binds you to it, is the practice of law. A good CDFA says so plainly and sends those questions back to counsel.
3. Can one professional work for both spouses?
A CDFA can, and an attorney cannot. Under conflict-of-interest rules, a lawyer represents one spouse. A CDFA may be hired jointly as a financial neutral, a shared expert who prepares one set of numbers both sides rely on. That model is common in mediation and in collaborative divorce, where both spouses and their lawyers commit in writing to settling out of court.
4. Whose focus is today, and whose is twenty years out?
An attorney’s job centers on reaching a fair, enforceable settlement now. A CDFA tests how that settlement holds up over decades. Taking an $800,000 house in exchange for an $800,000 401(k) can look even on paper, but the house brings carrying costs while the retirement account grows tax-deferred and is taxed when withdrawn. Long-range projections make that gap visible.
5. How do they approach alimony?
Attorneys argue alimony under the Massachusetts Alimony Reform Act of 2011, which caps general term alimony by marriage length: 50 percent of the marriage’s months for marriages of five years or less, rising to 80 percent for marriages of 15 to 20 years, with longer marriages left to the court’s discretion. The amount generally should not exceed 30 to 35 percent of the difference in gross incomes. A CDFA translates those figures into after-tax monthly cash flow for each household.
6. Who handles the financial disclosure paperwork?
The attorney files it, and a CDFA often helps assemble it. Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Supplemental Rule 401 requires a sworn financial statement, with a long form for anyone earning $75,000 or more a year, and Rule 410 requires both spouses to exchange core documents within 45 days of service. A CDFA can organize statements, flag gaps, and reconcile figures before anything is signed under the penalties of perjury.
7. Who helps after the judgment?
An attorney’s work typically wraps up when the judgment enters, apart from later modifications. The financial work often continues: coordinating the qualified domestic relations order, or QDRO, that divides a retirement plan, retitling accounts, updating beneficiaries, and building a budget for a single household.
Which Boston-area financial firms should you know?
- Janice Berner, CDFA®
- Beyond Your Hammock
- Balance Wealth Advisors
- Greenway Financial Advisors
- LRVS Advisory Group
1. Janice Berner, CDFA®, High Net Worth Divorce Financial Planner
Janice Berner, CDFA®, is a financial advisor and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst with offices in Boston, Wakefield, and Wellesley. She works with clients and their attorneys on the financial side of divorce, including disclosure preparation, settlement analysis, and planning for life after the judgment. She also works alongside mediators and collaborative divorce teams, and her practice covers retirement planning, investments, and life, long-term care, and disability protection.
2. Beyond Your Hammock
A financial planning firm with an office on Milk Street in Boston.
3. Balance Wealth Advisors
A wealth advisory firm located on River Street in Wellesley.
4. Greenway Financial Advisors
A financial advisory firm with an office at Burlington Woods in Burlington.
5. LRVS Advisory Group
An advisory firm located on Sharp Street in Hingham.
Do you need both a CDFA and an attorney?
Most people with substantial assets benefit from both, because the roles cover different ground. The attorney protects your legal rights and carries the agreement through court. The financial analyst shows what that agreement means for your cash flow, taxes, and retirement years from now. If your divorce involves a business, stock options, several properties, or large retirement accounts, bring a high net worth divorce financial planner in before settlement talks begin, while the numbers can still change.
This article is for general information only and is not legal or tax advice.
