When you go through a divorce, it may get contentious. Some of this contention may center on money, or it may just be an emotional component of the divorce. Either way, this may influence your spouse to attempt to hide assets.
Their goal in doing this is simply to keep the assets from you. They know that they are supposed to report these assets to the court, and they know that marital assets need to be divided between two people who are getting divorced. But if they simply don’t report the assets and they can hide them away, then they get to keep 100%. Here are three ways they may try to do this.
Overpaying on bills
In some cases, people are able to overpay on different bills that they have. Your spouse may owe money to the IRS, for instance, and write them a check for far more than is actually owned. This will eventually cause the IRS to give them a refund check, but it takes time. If the divorce is finalized during that time, they hope that you’ll just think it was a legitimate tax payment and not question it, and then they’ll get the money back afterward.
Giving the money away
Your spouse may also just try to pick anyone they think they can trust and give the money away for a short time. They could give it to a close friend or business partner. They could give it to a family member, calling it the repayment of a loan or even a birthday present. This can be a somewhat transparent move once you see that the money has been transferred, but it’s also the easiest thing for most people to do, so it’s a common tactic.
Putting it in other accounts
In some cases, people also just move money around and put it in accounts that their spouse doesn’t know they control. For instance, they may be investing overseas or buying cryptocurrency. They will then leave these accounts off of their declaration of assets. Once again, they’re simply hoping that you will not notice and they won’t get caught.
But it’s certainly not fair or just for them to do this to you. Make sure that you know about all of the legal steps you can take to ensure you get what you deserve.
