Don Blythe, MBA, CPA, CDFA, Financial

I am a financial mediator with extensive experience as a Collaborative financial neutral in helping divorcing couples make sense of often complex divorce financial issues. The consequences of choices you make during the divorce process are often difficult if not impossible to change once the divorce is final. Your financial decisions will have a major impact on your future lives. I help you make better decisions.

I have a diverse financial background spanning over 30 years as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) partner in a public accounting firm with an emphasis for the last 10 years in divorce financial mediation, Collaborative practice, forensic accounting, small business valuations and tax advisory services.

The divorce process is a difficult period and fear of an uncertain future makes it even more difficult. And when two households now have to live on the same income that previously supported only one household, the importance of divorce financial planning becomes obvious. As your neutral Collaborative financial professional, I help you identify, document and value your community and separate property and debt, document your income and estimate your expected future expenses. Moreover I help you communicate with each other and document your preferences when it comes to dividing your marital property and debt. In our settlement meetings with your Collaborative attorneys and coach, I provide detailed analyses of the financial impact of various alternative settlement strategies by projecting the short-term and long-term effects on your cash flow and net worth.

My role as your Collaborative financial neutral will depend on the complexity of your financial position but often includes:

• Performing a thorough review of your financial documents to create a complete financial picture.
• Preparing separate property tracing and post-separation accounting as needed to achieve clarity among the parties.
• Performing a valuation of any closely-held small business that you own and explaining my approaches and methods used in the valuation.
• Performing a valuation of any stock options or defined-benefit pension plans and explaining the factors involved in the valuation.
• Performing as needed forensic accounting procedures on historic financial information to better understand changes in assets and debt over time.
• Evaluating property divisions to help you understand settlement proposals.
• Analyzing options for the disposition of real estate, other assets, and debt.
• Preparing your budgets and cash flows, and assessing your future needs based on various scenarios.
• Analyzing expected income and expenses for use in spousal and child support discussions.
• Evaluating short-term and long-term effects of proposed divorce settlements based on anticipated needs.
• Preparing the required financial disclosures of assets, debts, income and expenses.

I received my Masters of Business Administration from Kansas University and my CPA designation from the Kansas and Missouri Board of Accountancy and the CDFA designation from the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts. I am a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Collaborative Practice San Francisco, Collaborative Divorce Professionals of Greater Kansas City, Collaborative Divorce Kansas City, American Institute of Certified Public Accounts, Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants, National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts and the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts.

I have been designated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as a “Pathfinder” in the accounting profession.