Is Your Spouse Hiding Assets in Divorce?

Do you think your spouse might be trying to hide assets in order to cheat you out of your fair share? If so, you really need an experienced, tough divorce attorney fighting for the best outcomes for you. An attorney with the right knowhow can flush out the marital property you deserve.

Penalties for Hiding Assets 

It’s simply a bad idea to play fast and loose with the rules in divorce. Florida divorce requires an equitable divorce of marital property. Doctoring numbers to avoid a fair split has potential consequences:

• If your spouse doesn’t submit accurate financial disclosure forms or to reply to requests for financial discovery matters, it is a violation of a judge’s order. Consequences could include being held in contempt of court, which could add up to jail time and fines.
• If the judge believes one party is trying to conceal financial facts, they may actually decide to award more to the other party.
• Both parties will be signing financial affidavits, providing depositions, and responding to official interrogatories in the course of a divorce. Lying during any of this could result in criminal perjury charges. Hiding assets is no small matter—with potential jail time and/or fines.

Finding Those Hidden Assets 

If you’re wondering where your attorney might look for the assets that aren’t appearing in documentation provided by your former paramour, there are plenty of potential hiding places:

1. Family and/or friends:  Don’t’ be shocked to learn that people close to your spouse may be involved in shady transactions giving them temporary possession of assets.
2. Low Appraisals: Your spouse may be valuing certain property—from boats and electronics to artwork and real estate– well below what it’s really worth.
3. Tax returns: A look at tax filings might reveal discrepancies between what your spouse claims to own now and what’s been claimed with the IRS.
4. Safety deposit boxes: Jewelry, cash, stock certificates, and other small items could easily be hidden in safety deposit boxes to which you have no access.
5. Offshore and/or undisclosed bank accounts: Money transfers could expose hidden cash and holdings.
6. Sham debt: It’s possible to have false papers drawn up indicating debt to friends or people unknown to you.
7. Tax assessor records: Your spouse may own property unbeknownst to you that a looksie at tax records could reveal.
8. Crypto accounts: Digital currencies are a new and potentially difficult place to track money.
9. Business records: Inflated expense reports, underreported profits, or complicated cash flow records could conceal money.

Getting What You Deserve 

The dedicated Boca Raton divorce attorneys at WiseLieberman will leave no stone unturned in the hunt for hidden assets.  To discuss your situation, schedule a confidential consultation in our office today.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.075.html