When going through a divorce, it is not uncommon for emotions to run high. Unfortunately, this can cause some people to make bad decisions. Out of spite, malice, or even just unnecessary concern, a spouse may try to hide assets.
If you believe your spouse is hiding assets, what can you do? The first thing is to see if you can find evidence of the assets, or even the missing assets themselves.
Physical asset hiding
Forbes discusses the most common areas that a spouse may attempt to hide assets. Sometimes, a spouse may hide assets in a tangible way. For example, they may keep a lockbox in their office or workspace. Inside this box, they stow away cash so it does not end up in financial documents. They get to keep all of this cash to themselves, without dividing any of it with you.
Another common trick is for a spouse to buy expensive items. This can include fine art, high-end electronics, or even sports cars. They do so with the intention of returning these items after the divorce is over. In doing so, they can keep all of the returned money to themselves.
Intangible assets
In other cases, a spouse may hide assets in intangible ways. For example, if your spouse runs a business, they may invent a false employee. They write payment checks to this fake person, and then later void the checks, keeping the money for themselves.
Fortunately, you can uncover a lot of sources of hidden assets in a financial investigation. If you believe your spouse has hidden assets, you may want to contact a legal professional so you can look into these options.