WorkflowFamily Law

Lifestyle Analysis

The lifestyle analysis divorce cases turn on, rebuilt from the statements: each transaction classified and cited, one-offs set aside, and the marital standard of living locked by a partner.

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The problem

Years of card and bank lines keyed by hand, so support is argued from memory

A support hearing turns on how the family lived before the separation. Proving it means downloading years of card and bank statements, keying or importing each line into a spreadsheet, tagging it, then arguing over the tags. The forensic bill runs into five figures before the report is drafted, so most cases below high net worth argue the number from testimony.

The same traps come back in matter after matter. A kitchen renovation or a new car gets counted as lifestyle, and a card payment from the joint account gets counted twice. Cash and checks drop out, and the other side's sworn budget goes untested for lack of time. Each one costs the client when the award is set.

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The Problem Today

Support turns on how the family really lived, and each spouse swears to a different number.

672,502: divorces in 2023, counted over 45 reporting states published
80–90%: of a forensic expert's hours spent extracting and checking data published

Entered line by line today

Statements
Card lines
Checks
Tax returns

Transfers counted twiceCard payments and moves between accounts pass for spending
One-offs inflate the numberA renovation counted as lifestyle invites attack

The Solution

Every statement readCards, banks, checks and returns, each line tied to a page
Each line classifiedInto the affidavit's categories; unsure ones go to the analyst
One-offs set asideRenovations and big purchases left out, with the partner's approval
Locked with its exhibitThe partner locks the monthly figure and signs the report

Built-in controls

A partner approves each exclusion, with a reason
Account numbers masked to the last four digits
Each read and change logged, agents apart from people

What You Get

The firm argues support from a monthly figure opposing counsel can check against the statements themselves.

The sworn budget testedThe other side's claim beside the records, category by category
Income gaps surfacedSpending above reported income, raised as a question
Exhibits in filing orderOne cited schedule per category, ready for the partner

How the monthly figure is built

A lifestyle analysis divorce courts can follow, from statement to signature

From the statements read to the partner's signature, the spending is rebuilt in stages: sorting the lines, setting one-offs aside, testing the sworn budget, locking the figure.

01Statements read and classified
Every card, bank and check line read and cited to its page
How it works
- Statements, check images and tax returns read whatever the bank's layout, scanned or digital
- Card payments and transfers between the couple's own accounts come out, so no dollar counts twice
- Two new statements become 61 cited lines; 59 classify at 0.90 or higher
Forensic analystStarts from 14,800 cited lines across 511 documents, so the engagement hours go to checking them, not typing them.
02The analyst's review queue
Unsure lines queued for the analyst to confirm or move, with reasons
How it works
- A line placed below 0.90 confidence goes to the analyst's queue
- The agent's proposed category arrives with the reason behind it
- Moving a line takes a written reason, which stays in the audit
- Of 186 lines sent for review, 171 were confirmed and 15 moved
Forensic analystA café counter filed under groceries, or a snow-removal contractor filed as household staff, is caught by a person before it reaches a category total.
03Categories and affidavit lines
Spending categories that follow the lines of the financial affidavit
How it works
- Each of the 22 categories maps to a line on the affidavit form the firm has chosen
- The table shows who a category serves: the client, the children, the other spouse, or shared
- 11,906 lifestyle transactions total $31,600 a month
Forensic analystThe report reads in the affidavit's own order, so the judge and opposing counsel can match a figure to the line it supports.
04Recurring and one-off spending
A recurring-spending chart that holds one-offs out for the partner's approval
How it works
- 36 monthly bars: recurring spending below, one-off spikes hatched above
- Firm rules flag a single purchase over $10,000, home improvement, a vehicle purchase or a gift over $5,000
- Each proposal shows its payee, number of payments and why it is a one-off
- Five events, $322,200 in 37 transactions, stay out of the monthly figure
Family law partnerA renovation counted as lifestyle hands the other side an easy attack. The partner approves each exclusion or counts it as lifestyle, and the reason is recorded.
05Spending by category
A map of spending by category, each block opening to its statements
How it works
- 22 blocks, each sized by what the family spent in an average month
- A block opens to its sources, a month-by-month strip and the page behind it
- $31,600 a month against $14,000 in the sworn budget; travel alone is $4,120, across 14 trips
Family law partnerShows the family's spending at a glance, so the argument starts from the records, with each block one click from the statements behind it.
06Claimed against actual
The sworn budget beside the records, with need and ability to pay
How it works
- Each affidavit line beside the records for the same category, sorted by the gap
- Travel reads $600 sworn against $4,120 spent; clubs, $0 against $1,940
- The client's need: $18,600 a month; the other spouse's reported income leaves $20,150
AssociateDrafts the support brief from a gap table whose lines already carry their source pages, without rebuilding the comparison in a spreadsheet.
07Income signal and request for production
Spending above reported income, raised as a question to ask
How it works
- Spending and deposits checked against the income on the joint returns
- $7,400 a month, $266,400 over 36 months, while savings fell only $21,600
- 26 deposits from one advisory company, $241,500, match no tax form on the returns
- A drafted request for production waits on the partner's sign-off
Family law partnerGets a discovery request aimed at money the returns do not show, while the call on what that money is stays with the attorney.
08Standard of living, locked
A partner's lock on the monthly figure that builds the summary exhibit
How it works
- Locking first ties each category back to its transactions
- It waits until the analyst's queue is clear and each one-off is approved
- $31,600 a month locks under the partner's name, and Exhibit L-1 is drafted from it
Family law partnerGoes into the hearing with one monthly figure the analyst checked and the partner approved.
09Lifestyle report
A cited lifestyle report, signed only once the checks before it pass
How it works
- 214 citations, each linking a figure to its statement page or exhibit
- Before signing: the lock, a clear analyst queue, approved one-offs, citations that resolve and masked account numbers
- The agent drafts it; the partner signs, and filing stays a separate step
Family law partnerSigns a report the associate can draft the support brief from, with each number traceable to a page the other side can open.

The sworn budget lists $600 a month for travel; the records show 14 trips

The six widest gaps between the other side's affidavit and the records, in dollars a month.

Category	Sworn budget	The records
Travel	$600	$4,120
Private school, two children	$2,240	$4,480
Clubs and memberships	$0	$1,940
Housing	$5,600	$7,400
Dining out	$650	$2,140
Household staff	$700	$1,980
All 22 categories	$14,000	$31,600

Around the number

The rest of the spending file, from one block to the audit log

The screens each role works in once the monthly figure is locked.

Clubs and memberships drill-down: three sources sized by monthly spend, a month-by-month strip, and $0 in the affidavit against $1,940 a month — **Inside one block**Clubs and memberships open to their three sources: $1,940 a month, $69,840 over 36 months and 144 transactions, against $0 in the sworn budget.

Source panel opened from a citation, showing the card statement line for club dues of $3,840 with the account number masked — **Club dues, traced to the card**Click any cited amount and the statement line appears. Here, club dues of $3,840 on a card statement, the account masked to its last four digits.

Spending map by category with one-offs shown as hatched blocks, the kitchen renovation largest, and a footnote that averaging them in gives $40,550 a month — **What the one-offs would add**One switch lays the five one-offs over the spending map as hatched blocks. Averaged in, spending reads $40,550 a month, which is why they stay out.

One-paragraph settlement summary of the lifestyle report, carrying the partner's signature, with the pre-signing checks next to it — **One paragraph for settlement talks**The locked figures in one paragraph: $31,600 a month against $14,000 sworn, $322,200 of one-offs excluded, a need of $18,600.

Exhibit binder of 12 schedules from L-1 to L-12 with page counts, each marked ready, after the binder run checked 88 pages — **Exhibits in filing order**12 exhibits and 88 pages, one schedule per category, assembled with account numbers masked and held for the partner's signature.

Matter audit log listing reads, classifications, a moved transaction and one-off approvals, with agents marked apart from people — **Each hand on the file, marked**Agents are marked apart from people: who read, who classified, who moved a line and why, who approved each one-off.

Who prepares the file

Six agents read, sort and draft; a lawyer decides what is left out

Each one handles one piece of the analysis and hands off wherever a lawyer must decide.

Statement reader

Reads card and bank statements, check images and the joint returns, whatever the layout, and ties each line to its page.

Changes no figure it reads

Classifier

Puts each transaction in one of 22 categories with a confidence score, and removes transfers between the couple's own accounts.

Below 0.90, a person decides
Asks about cash, or a check with no memo

Recurring separator

Separates repeated spending from one-offs such as renovations, cars and large gifts, and writes down why each one stands apart.

Excludes nothing without the partner

Budget comparator

Sets the sworn budget beside the records, line by line, and works out need and ability to pay.

Leaves the sworn figures as sworn

Income matcher

Checks total spending and deposits against the income reported on the tax returns.

Calls nothing hidden income: it flags and asks

Report drafter

Drafts the lifestyle report, the exhibits and any request for production, with each figure cited.

Files nothing and sends nothing

Five calls the agents hand to a person, from one-offs to the signature

Agents prepare the analysis. People decide what it rests on.

Leaving a purchase outThe partner approves each one-off before it leaves the monthly figure, or counts it and returns it to the analyst with a reason.

Moving a transactionThe analyst confirms or moves each line the agent was unsure of, and a move is not saved without a written reason.

Locking the numberOnly a partner locks the standard of living. The person who classifies cannot approve exclusions or lock.

Calling a gap hidden incomeSpending above reported income stays a signal. What it means, and whether to press it, is the attorney's call.

Signing and sendingThe partner signs the report, and a request for production goes to opposing counsel only after the partner signs off on it.

Questions family lawyers bring to a lifestyle analysis divorce file

What does lifestyle analysis divorce software do?

Lifestyle analysis divorce software rebuilds what a marriage actually spent from its statements, so the marital standard of living rests on records rather than testimony. This one reads and sorts each line, sets one-offs aside with a partner's approval and drafts a cited report.

How is the marital standard of living proved from the records?

From several years of statements, usually three to five. Each transaction goes into a category that follows the financial affidavit, transfers between the couple's own accounts come out, one-offs such as a renovation are set aside, and what is left is averaged into a monthly figure.

How is the opposing spouse's sworn budget checked?

It sets each line of the sworn affidavit beside the records for the same category, sorted by the size of the gap, and works out the client's need and the other spouse's ability to pay. The sworn figures stay exactly as sworn.

Can it find hidden income?

It compares total spending and deposits with the income on the tax returns. When spending runs above reported income, it flags a signal, lists the deposits behind it and drafts a request for production. The attorney decides what the gap means.

Who decides what counts as a one-off?

The firm sets the rules, such as large single purchases, home improvement, vehicle purchases and large gifts. The agent proposes each one-off and gives the reason, and the partner approves it or counts it as lifestyle.

How are the couple's financial records protected?

Account numbers are masked to the last four digits in each output, and the couple's records are held inside the firm's own space, out of model training. Each read and change is logged, and the firm sets how long the file is kept after closing.

Family Law

Test the sworn budget
against three years of statements.

See a support matter your firm has argued rebuilt into categories, one-offs and a signed report.

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Lifestyle Analysis

Years of card and bank lines keyed by hand, so support is argued from memory

The Problem Today

The Solution

What You Get

A lifestyle analysis divorce courts can follow, from statement to signature

Every card, bank and check line read and cited to its page

Unsure lines queued for the analyst to confirm or move, with reasons

Spending categories that follow the lines of the financial affidavit

A recurring-spending chart that holds one-offs out for the partner's approval

A map of spending by category, each block opening to its statements

The sworn budget beside the records, with need and ability to pay

Spending above reported income, raised as a question to ask

A partner's lock on the monthly figure that builds the summary exhibit

A cited lifestyle report, signed only once the checks before it pass