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About the Course
Introduction
This CLE webinar will offer guidance to family law counsel grappling with the complex issues of double counting of income that surface when the parties capitalize the income from a business or professional practice to establish its value for purposes of equitable distribution and then order payment of that same income as future maintenance or support payments. The panel will discuss how to determine if double counting (or double dipping) even occurred, the confusing methodologies used to address the problem, what happens if the double counting problem is not solved, and how to avoid the inequitable result of twice distributing the same income.
Description
When courts distribute the value of a business or professional practice but fail to adjust the business' income stream when calculating spousal support, they create a suffocating and virtually insurmountable burden for the payor spouse, a problem known as double counting or double-dipping. Furthermore, identifying double-dipping can be challenging.
Courts are divided as to whether double-dipping should ever be permitted to achieve an equitable outcome. Some jurisdictions entirely allow or prohibit double-dipping, while others take a case-by-case approach and consider the facts and circumstances of each divorce. Many approaches have proven difficult to apply while also generating questionable results.
Listen as our esteemed panel discusses the complex issue of double counting that can arise in business valuation and calculation of spousal support. The panel will offer guidance on identifying and distinguishing between assets and income, review the differing judicial approaches to double-dipping and asset distribution, and provide strategies for structuring settlements.
Presented By
Ms. Bernstein's s practice includes representing individuals in actions for
divorce, child custody, paternity, child support, post-judgment
modification and enforcement proceedings, and child protective
and family offense actions, both on the trial and appellate level.
She also works with clients to negotiate and draft prenuptial,
postnuptial, and separation agreements.
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Ms. Chung is the Founder of The Law Office of Ruth Chung and exclusively practices Matrimonial and Family Law in New York City. She holds a BA/MA in forensic psychology, magna cum laude, from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, later graduating from the City University of New York Law School, before starting her solo practice in 2018. Prior to starting the firm, Ms. Chung was an attorney with the Court Square Law Project (CSLP), a sliding scale non-profit firm dedicated to serving New Yorkers of moderate means.
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Mr. Gottlieb is the Director of Forensic and Litigation Support Services at MSG, where he oversees forensic accounting investigations, business valuations, and economic damages analyses in complex commercial and matrimonial disputes. Mr. Gottlieb brings an unusual combination of credentials to this work: he is both a licensed attorney and a certified public accountant, which gives him a fluency in both the financial analysis and the litigation process that most forensic consultants simply do not have. Mr. Gottlieb's work covers the full scope of the firm’s litigation support practice. He conducts and supervises business valuations of closely held companies, prepares economic damages calculations in commercial disputes, and leads forensic investigations involving allegations of fraud, asset dissipation, and financial misreporting. Mr. Gottlieb also plays a central role in expert report preparation, deposition and trial support, and the development of rebuttal analyses targeting opposing experts’ methodologies and conclusions. He has provided expert testimony and lectures regularly on financial and tax matters in divorce litigation, presenting to organizations including the American Bar Association, BARBRI, the Suffolk County Bar Association, and Strafford Webinars.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Monday, February 23, 2026
- schedule
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- How the double-counting problem arises
- Methods of business valuation for purposes of equitable distribution
- State court approaches to double counting
- Strategies for avoiding inequitable result of double counting
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- Assuming that some portion of earnings is capitalized and distributed as an asset, does the owner have any more income that can be used for spousal support?
- Does double dipping only occur when valuation of the business or practice includes "good will"?
- Which valuation methods most often create a double-counting problem?
- What weight is given to future profits and appreciation when evaluating settlements and awards?
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