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How to Find Hidden Assets in Offshore Accounts During a Texas Divorce
Texas divorces can be challenging at the best of times, but things become exceptionally tricky when high-net-worth couples are involved. One of the main issues in such high-asset divorces is the discovery of hidden assets.
Hidden assets are funds and properties that one spouse may try to conceal from the other spouse, their attorneys, or the court, in order to avoid losing them during property division.
Often, spouses may transfer these funds and assets to offshore accounts, to hide them from their partner during a divorce. However, an experienced and resourceful Austin high-asset divorce attorney can help find these assets and ensure that their client receives a fair settlement.
Here are several ways to find money and assets hidden in offshore accounts during a Texas divorce, and how a high-asset divorce attorney can help:
Attorney Experience and Network
Hiring an experienced high-asset divorce attorney is the first step in finding hidden assets. These professionals have extensive experience in dealing with complex financial matters of divorce, and often a network of finance professionals, forensic accountants, and international professionals who can help uncover hidden assets.
How Inherited Assets Are Handled in a Texas Divorce
Getting a divorce in Texas can be a complex and stressful ordeal, and things become even more complex when it is a high-asset divorce. Division of assets is a common point of contention in a high-asset divorce, especially when it comes to inherited assets.
Of course, you should always consult an Austin complex property litigation attorney or an Austin high-asset divorce attorney for guidance on your individual case.
That being said, let’s discuss how inherited assets are handled in a Texas divorce.
Inherited Assets Can Become Subject to Division
In Texas, inherited assets are typically considered separate property by the law, meaning they belong solely to the spouse who received them and are not subject to division in a divorce.
However, it is important to note that if inherited assets have been commingled with marital assets (common in longer marriages), or used to benefit both spouses, they may become subject to division.
Requiring Spouses to Get Life Insurance in a Texas Divorce
When a couple gets a divorce, they often think that once the divorce is final, their connection to each other will be done. In some ways that is true. The marriage is over. The division of assets and property is usually addressed within weeks or months following the divorce. Quit claim deeds are recorded, vehicle titles transferred, QDRO agreements for retirement accounts drawn up, etc. But there are some areas of divorce that do not end when the ink is dried on the divorce decree.
Child support is one issue that is decided in divorce that is often long-term. The financial obligations of one spouse to the other can last for years. This is why many divorces include a clause that requires one or both parents to obtain life insurance policies that will provide financial support for the child should something happen to the parent.
Child Support
Parents are usually required under Texas law to pay child support until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whatever is secondary. In some cases, the parent is required to provide support if the child attends college after they complete high school.
Is My Divorce a High Asset One?
Every divorce has its own unique issues that must be addressed, however, for the most part, the process for each divorce is similar. However, when it comes to high asset divorces, the discovery, negotiations, and ultimate decree can be much more complex than a divorce that does not involve high net-worth assets. This is why it is important to have an attorney who is experienced and skilled in high-asset divorces. The following are some of the factors that indicate having a law firm that regularly handles complex divorces, like Powers and Kerr, PLLC, is in your best interest.
Numerous Real Estate Holdings
While many married couples own the home they live in, couples involved in high-asset divorces often own several properties. In addition to the marital home, they can own vacation homes, rental properties, commercial properties, and land.
Investments
High-net-worth couples not only have checking, savings, and retirement accounts, but they also typically have stock market investments with full portfolios that will pay out dividends in the future. The value of the investments often fluctuates, so it is important to have an attorney who has experience in determining the fair value of these investments so you are protected when it comes to the division of assets in your divorce.
What Is Birdnest Custody and Is It the Right Choice for My Texas Divorce?
One of the most difficult decisions in a divorce for a couple who has children is how the parenting time of the children will be divided. Multiple studies have shown that children benefit from having both parents actively involved in their lives. This has led over the past few years to more and more family court judges leaning towards shared custody of the child instead of one parent having primary custody and the other parent having a visitation schedule.
In most shared custody cases, the child goes back and forth between each of the parent’s homes. They have two bedrooms, two sets of clothes, two sets of toys, etc. And although the child is benefitting from having both parents active in their life, it can still be difficult for the child who is always going from one house to another, with issues popping up, like forgetting their favorite stuffed animal that they sleep with at night at their other parent’s house. A fairly new type of custody may solve these types of issues, but is it workable in all cases?
Is Your Spouse Using Cryptocurrencies to Hide Assets?
While many Americans have heard about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, less than 25 percent say they know a lot about them. If you are involved in a high-asset divorce and suspect your spouse may hiding assets, cryptocurrencies could be the perfect hiding place if you yourself are not familiar with these assets.
With only a small amount of people actually familiar with cryptocurrency, it is important to work with a high-asset divorce attorney and other financial professionals who are familiar with and experienced in finding hidden cryptocurrencies. Although each spouse is required to disclose all assets in their financial affidavits, including the value of any crypto assets, it is not surprising that a spouse on a mission to hide assets would not make this disclosure on their affidavit.
Where to Look for Crypto Assets
There are multiple exchanges where crypto assets can be purchased. If a spouse has purchased these assets, then the first place to look would be in their bank and credit card statements. Some of the exchanges to look for include:
Which Is Better: Monthly Spousal Support or a Lump Sum Payment?
In many Texas high asset divorces, one spouse is ordered to pay the other spouse spousal support, also referred to as alimony or spousal maintenance. The purpose of spousal support is to enable the receiving spouse to be able to maintain a similar standard of living to the one they had while married. This is especially important in marriages where that spouse chose to leave their career to take care of the couple’s children. If they suddenly did not have that financial support, it could create great financial hardships for them. One question that many receiving spouses ask is whether they should accept their spousal support in monthly payments or whether they should request it all in one lump sum.
Qualifying for Spousal Support in Texas
There are some factors that must be met in order for the court to order spousal support payments. If the couple had a prenuptial agreement that stipulated that alimony would be paid in the event of a divorce, then that stipulation should be ordered.
When Should You Hire a Forensic Accountant in a Texas Divorce?
It is rare for a high asset divorce not to involve complex financial issues that need to be addressed. If your marriage was one that involved high net worth assets and property, your divorce attorney may suggest hiring a forensic accountant to analyze all the financial documents submitted by both parties in order to help determine how those assets should be divided, how much child support and spousal maintenance should be paid, and other financial decisions.
When Should a Forensic Accountant Be Consulted?
While many people think forensic accountants are only called in to help in a divorce if there is suspected financial wrongdoing on the party of one of the spouses, their services can actually be beneficial in a divorce where both parties are agreeable, but their financial situation is complex.
Some of the more common reasons why an attorney will suggest a forensic accountant be hired include:
How to Prove an Informal Marriage in a Texas Divorce
Although not every state recognizes common-law marriages, the state of Texas does when the relationship has met certain criteria. Meeting the criteria of a common-law marriage, referred to as an informal marriage, is critical in the event the couple split up and seeks the same legal rights as a couple who signed a declaration of marriage.
Couples can enter into an informal marriage by signing a declaration of informal marriage with their county clerk’s office. This is all the proof that is needed for divorce, inheritance, or any other legal proceeding.
However, if the couple does not sign an agreement, proving they were in an informal marriage may be somewhat more difficult. The following are factors required by the state in order to recognize a legal informal marriage.
Informal Marriage Requirements
In order for the state to recognize an informal marriage, both spouses must be 18 years of age or older when the marriage was formed. Neither spouse can be married – either a formal marriage or an informal one – to anyone else. And both parties must agree that they are entering into an informal marriage.
Do Spouses Qualify for Military Benefits in Divorce?
When a person goes through a divorce, it is often a jarring experience. What they thought was once their future has now been dissolved and an uncertain future may lay ahead. Not only are there emotional uncertainties to deal with, but the financial changes can also feel overwhelming. There are immediate concerns, like the change in monthly income, that child and spousal support may cover, but there are also future financial changes that can be a concern.
These concerns can be particularly significant for military spouses, especially when it comes to military benefits. Military couples do have a high rate of divorce, with approximately 20,000 of them divorcing each year. In a survey of what industries have higher divorce rates that used data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, the profession with the number one highest rate was first-line enlisted military supervisors.
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