Financial Fraud in a Texas Divorce – Part I

 Posted on March 29, 2022 in Divorce

As many people who have gone through a divorce can attest, when a couple has decided to end their marriage, the relationship between the two of them is usually pretty strained. Often, there is anger, frustration, hurt, and other emotions that can make it difficult to communicate with each other in order to negotiate a satisfactory divorce settlement. There can also be strong feelings of distrust, especially if one of the spouses was having an affair or engaged in some other behavior that leaves the other spouse feeling betrayed. This contentiousness can lead to financial fraud by one spouse in an effort to deny the other spouse their fair share of the marital estate.

In this post we will address the warning signs to watch out for that could indicate your spouse is committing financial fraud. In our next post, we will discuss some of the steps you can take to make sure your best interests are protected.

Signs of Financial Fraud

In some situations, the spouse may have taken steps to hide assets even while the couple was still together. In addition to hiding assets to avoid making them part of any property division settlement, they may also hide assets to avoid paying their fair share in child support or alimony payments.

There are often red flags that can signal a spouse is engaged in some type of financial fraud. These include:

• A sudden change in your spouse’s behavior, habits, or personality

• Your spouse refuses to have any discussions about marital finances or always puts off having these conversations

• Financial statements are no longer coming in the mail, or you discover your spouse has secretly opened a post office box to receive these documents

• Your spouse refuses to tell you the password for joint financial accounts or share any details about the accounts

• Your spouse become evasive or secretive about their finances

• Your spouse is hiding their activities on a shared computer

• You discover that your spouse is taking large, frequent, or unexplained withdrawals from your bank accounts

• You discover that your spouse has loaned or given money to family or friends without telling you

• Your spouse has a substance abuse issue

During the Divorce Process

Once the divorce has been filed and the legal process has begun, the spouse may engage in other activities to hide their assets. For example, if they own their own business, they may put off invoicing clients until after the divorce is final in order to falsely deflate their income. If they work at a corporation where there are periodic bonuses, stock options, or other financial benefits, they may work out an arrangement where they delay the receipt of funds so that money won’t be included in any support calculations.

Contact an Austin High Asset Divorce Attorney

If you have decided to end your marriage and anticipate a battle over the marital estate, you want to have an aggressive and skilled Austin complex divorce attorney advocating for you. Call Powers and Kerr, PLLC at 512-610-6199 to schedule a free and confidential consultation and find out how we can help.

Source:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/financial-fraud-and-divor_b_8210922