Where to Look for Hidden Assets During Your High Asset Divorce

 Posted on March 27, 2019 in High Asset Divorce

All divorce proceedings are complex and potentially emotional for the parties involved. High asset divorces, however, tend to come with their own set of unique issues. For instance, hiding assets is much more common in divorces where one or both spouses have significant, unique, diverse, or particularly valuable assets. Fortunately, there are steps that divorcing parties can take to ensure that their spouses are not attempting to hide assets, so if you and your spouse have decided to file for divorce and you are concerned that he or she may be attempting to hide or waste assets, it is critical to speak with an experienced high asset divorce attorney who can explain these steps to you and ensure that your property is protected.

Most Common Methods of Hiding Assets During Divorce

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for one spouse to try and hide assets from the other during divorce by utilizing one or more of the following methods:

• Transferring marital assets out of a joint account into a newly created or already existing account that is only in one spouse’s name;
• Transferring cash or investments to a friend or relative’s account until the divorce is finalized;
• Purposely overpaying the IRS and instructing the agency to use the current year’s refund for next year’s taxes;
• Taking cash withdrawals on debit cards;
• Delaying any promotions, raises, or bonuses until after the divorce is finalized;
• Delaying receipt of commission payments; and
• Purposely failing to report employer retirement accounts or stock options to the financial analyst.

Couples who own an interest in a business have even more options when it comes to hiding assets, including:

• Delaying invoicing clients until after the divorce is finalized;
• Creating fake business expenses; and
• Buying personal items and charging vacations to the company to soak up any profit that would otherwise be divisible upon divorce.

Although these are the most common places for divorcing spouses to hide assets, they are by no means the only ones, making it especially important for divorcing parties to speak with an attorney and a forensic accountant to ensure that all assets are accounted for and properly divided.

Schedule an Initial Case Evaluation Today

Because it is so easy to hide assets during divorce, it is important for the parties to remember not to take a spouse’s financial disclosures at face value. Instead, Texas residents who have decided to divorce should speak with an attorney and their own financial adviser or forensic accountant. To speak with one of our own dedicated Round Rock high asset divorce lawyers about protecting your assets during divorce, please call Powers and Kerr, PLLC at 512-610-6199 today. A member of our team is standing by to address your questions and concerns.

Sources:

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/counting-miles-and-other-hidden-assets-divorce