Mark Hill, CFP, CDFA, has traveled quite a distance, both geographically and professionally, to arrive at his current position as managing director for Pacific Wealth Management and Pacific Divorce Management in San Diego. Raised in Somerset and Devon counties in England, he ventured West-way West- in the late 1970s to launch a business importing antiques.

The recession of 1982 tarnished the demand for his 19th-century furniture, so he switched careers. Hill's first financial services position was as a retail broker for E. F. Hutton. When Smith Barney took over the firm in the mid-1990s he and colleague James Kuntz decided to strike out on their own.

It took the two a few years to ease out of their golden handcuffs, but by 1998 they had launched Pacific Wealth Management, a fee-based financial advisory firm. Client fees start at 1% of assets under management for investments of $1 million to $3 million and are reduced on a sliding scale for assets above $3 million. Hill accepts referred accounts under $1 million for family and friends of existing clients, but these accounts are charged a higher fee: 1.5% of AUM.

Today, with more than 150 clients and $200 million in assets under management, the firm has added family office services like philanthropic counseling, family business transition counseling, real estate management, bill paying and personal concierge services. But the service Hill has become famous for is divorce planning.

Divorce is unpleasant, to say the least. It involves sorrow, betrayal and often intense anger. Looked at another way, divorce also requires the unwinding of a very, very personal business partnership-comprising a home, life savings, precious and sentimental objects and living beings (kids, dogs, relatives and friends). In the heat of divorce, people often don't see the consequences of their decisions. Divorce feuds may not be about the money, Hill says, but that's where they are often played out.

So it's no surprise that many qualified professionals don't want to deal with divorcing couples. But big money-at least to the couple-is at stake. Wrong moves can cost thousands in unnecessary taxes. Poor decisions can cost the less-savvy spouse his or her future financial security. For a financial planner, then, divorce is fertile ground.

LEARNING FROM LIFE

Hill went through a bad divorce of his own in the 1990s, and was surprised by the court system's poor handling of the divorce process, as well as by how costly the process can be. During this time he was pursuing his CFP certification-only to be surprised once more, this time by the meager attention paid to divorce in the CFP curriculum. He also noticed that many divorce attorneys lacked sufficient financial expertise.

Hill realized that he needed education. He found information about the financial aspects of divorce planning from two institutes: the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts (IDFA) in Southfield, Mich., and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), a community of legal, mental health and financial professionals working in concert to create client-centered processes for resolving conflict. In 1998, Hill received a Certified Divorce Financial Analysts (CDFA) designation from the IDFA, which is the most established and best recognized designation in financial planning for divorce.

Hill's work with the IDFA was the source of a bonanza. "Through a connection with the IDFA, I was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal online for an article on divorce planning [posted Feb. 12, 2003]," Hill says. "Suddenly my phone was ringing off the wall." Soon after the Wall Street Journal article appeared, Hill became the financial trainer for an interdisciplinary group of lawyers, financial professionals and mental health professionals who were exploring a new practice model called Collaborative Divorce through the IACP.

In 2005, Hill began a two-year term on the IACP board. With 4,200 members in 25 countries, the IACP advocates for collaborative divorce settlements as an alternative to litigation.

Because of Hill's work as a financial trainer, planners began asking him to take a consulting role when their clients were divorcing. Once again, his specialized knowledge about an essentially disagreeable subject paid off. Today, he says, "divorce planning is a good opportunity because of the intense interaction with attorneys and mental health professionals. It's also a great niche market precisely because of its stigma."

THE EX ADVISOR

Pacific Divorce Management can act as a neutral financial advisor to both parties or provide adversarial support to one side only in the mediation process. "It's strictly a matter of whether we advise one or two clients," Hill explains. Like an attorney, Hill charges by the hour for divorce work, typically $300 to $350.