The financial stakes in a divorce case can be quite high. Divorcing spouses may be liable to their former partner for alimony, maintenance, or division of marital assets. As a result couples going through a divorce may encounter their spouse illegally hiding assets.
If a spouse seeks to undervalue or hide marital assets the following strategies are often encountered:
• Purchase high-valued assets may be hidden from records: Some spouses may invest in high value items that can be hidden from a court, such as jewelry, gold bars or antiques.
• Setting aside cash: Spouses will frequently hide assets in cash, which is stored in a safe, a secret location, or a safety deposit box. Think through your spouses recent activities? Could the assets be hidden in actual cash?
• Creation of nominee companies: Some spouses will create offshore companies outside of the divorce court jurisdiction to hide assets.
• Employment ‘off the books’: Some spouses will work “under the table” so that their income cannot be reported.
• Creating false debts: Some spouses will create false debts or bills to ‘bilk’ funds from their savings. This is usually done with cooperation with ‘false creditors’ who may be friends of the family.
• Using Nominee accounts in the name of a child or friend: A very simple method is to just transfer funds to a friend or assistant.
These methods are illegal and not recommended. They may constitute civil or criminal fraud. Further, falsely presenting asset information to a divorce court may amount to perjury and/ or contempt of court. Accordingly, we do not endorse or recommend these methods. While aggressive divorce representation is desired, it is also important to consider the risks involved in hiding assets.
If you are going through a divorce and suspect that your spouse has hidden assets, it is important to retain an aggressive and knowledgeable divorce attorney to protect your rights.
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