Question: My husband and I are in the middle of a divorce case that has gone from bad to worse. First of all, I stayed at home through most of our 25-plus-year marriage, caring for our four children while he bought and sold several businesses and made his mark, so to speak. There was a temporary agreement for my husband to pay indirectly all of my regular bills and give me $400 each week for “extras”. Since there were no attorney fees agreed on, I had to borrow $30,000 from my parents to pay my lawyer and, from what the lawyer told me, to pay experts to evaluate my husband’s wealth, etc.

Here’s where it gets deep: More than six months have gone by, and I am no farther ahead than I was when we started. My lawyer has not gotten me an accountant and is now telling me that I should trust the certified public accountant who has done – and still does – my husband’s and his companies’ tax returns for the past 15 years. My lawyer says that my husband’s CPA will be the best person to value the businesses because he can do it more quickly and at less cost to me because my husband will pay his bills.

While I know this CPA and have given him tax papers over the years, my husband knows him much better. I feel very uncomfortable with the situation, and want to know if I am paranoid in not wanting my husband’s accountant working for me. Is this right? How can a professional who worked for both of us choose sides? What should I do?

Answer: In our opinion, you have a perfect right to be paranoid. And going one step further, we believe your attorney has some explaining to do.

First of all, your lawyer allowed you – an economically dependent spouse - to agree not to seek an award of temporary attorney’s fees, costs, and “suit money” to help prepare your case. Under the circumstances as you describe them, and given the apparent difference in your and your husband’s financial wherewithal, it would appear to us that this was both a strategic and tactical error.

Second, from what you tell us, your lawyer collected $30,000 from you to pay his fees and to hire experts to help you. If this was the case, this stipulation should have been in your contract with your attorney. If it was, you should have your lawyer seek out an independent expert for you. If it was not in your contract, then you and your lawyer should have a heart-to-heart.

Third we believe that a certified public accountant who has prepared joint income tax returns for, and given advice to, a married couple has serious problems by choosing sides at divorce and becoming adversarial to one of his clients. You are entitled to not only all of your individual tax returns and all schedules, but also all work papers, notes, and every piece of information in the CPA's files. Through the discovery process, you are entitled to copies of the business tax returns and similar papers.

Remember: Financial experts can be attacked on cross-examination in four major areas: qualifications, independence, the assumptions used, and subjective judgments. Here, it appears that if your husband’s accountant testifies, his lack of independence will surely taint his opinions. We believe that he should be given the opportunity to remove himself from participating in this case. If he refuses, we suggest that your attorney secure a copy of the ethical rules that govern certified public accountants, make your concerns known in writing to your and your husband’s CPA.