Are you worried that your ex is going to hide assets? You know that they are not supposed to and that they are required to give a mandatory financial disclosure to the court during your divorce. But you are still worried that they are going to try to hide assets to keep you from getting your fair share.
Your concerns may be warranted. This is an issue that arises in some contentious high-asset divorce cases. Below are a few ways that people try to hide assets that you can be aware of.
Giving them away
One of the most common tactics is simply to give assets to someone else. That person can then return them after the divorce, since property division has already taken place. It can be a red flag if your spouse gives $50,000 to their sibling, for example, even if they have an excuse, like claiming that it is an old debt or a business loan.
Undervaluing assets
Another tactic to hide assets is simply to pretend they are worth less than they are. For instance, maybe your spouse has an art collection that is worth $500,000, so you may believe you have a claim to roughly $250,000 worth of that asset. But if they instead claim that the art collection is only worth $50,000, they are trying to deprive you of a portion of the value.
Putting off payments
Another thing that sometimes happens is that people will put off certain payments that they are already due. Maybe your spouse is a high earner who is going to get a $1 million bonus at work. But your spouse tells their boss to wait and pay them the bonus after the divorce, even though they earned it during the marriage.
If you believe your spouse is hiding assets, it is crucial that you understand exactly what legal options you have.