Expert Financial Analysis of your Individual Situation

My goal is to bring about peaceful divorce settlements. When emotions run high, I encourage my clients to consider divorce as a business decision and to look toward the future, not the past.

The financial tables I create enable my customers to see logical and equitable ways to divide their assets prior to seeing an attorney, thereby significantly lowering costs. Included in the financial roadmap that I provide is a 20-year cash flow table to illustrate the effect of any settlements being considered. I have no products to sell and do not manage money; therefore, I am completely objective with my experience and recommendations.

I also work within the realm of Collaborative Law as a neutral financial professional. In these cases, I am able to provide the financial mediation, while the attorneys are present at every meeting to advise the clients on legal issues.

My approach to mediation involves separate meetings with each spouse to establish their goals and interests. I create financial spreadsheets, with percentages for each spouse, based on logic and their specific requests. We often “What-If” different scenarios. We review each asset valuation and determine separate property and community property. Tax adjustments are made for assets such as capital gains, IRA’s, 401(k)’s, pensions, and stock options. If alimony is a possibility, I can include an offset of assets to give the husband more of his pension or other assets while showing his tax savings by choosing tax-deductible alimony.

Profile – Patricia Barrett, CFP®, CDFA™

Patricia is well-respected in legal circles and in the financial planning community. She has over twenty years of experience in the financial services industry, having held Series 7 (general securities) and Series 63 licenses, and was the manager of the financial planning department of a Houston trust company. Patricia is a Certified Financial Planner and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, and has completed basic and advanced mediator training at the University of Houston Law School. She is currently the treasurer for the Association of Family Conciliatory Courts, and is a former treasurer of the Financial Planning Association.

Patricia maintains active memberships in the following professional organizations:

• International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
• Collaborative Law Institute of Texas
• Texas Association of Mediators
• National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors
• Financial Planning Association
• American Business Women’s Association
• Institute of Divorce Financial Analysts
• Academy of Financial Divorce Practitioners

Articles Written

Divorce and the Closely-Held Business

Created On: 01/21/2009

Lawyers

Patricia Barrett

Free Case Review

Location : Houston, TX

Practice Areas: