On the Lookout for Hidden Assets in Divorce
If you’re headed for a divorce and you suspect your spouse will try to hide assets in order to avoid giving you your fair share, you really need a knowledgeable and hard-hitting divorce attorney fighting on your behalf. An attorney with the right knowhow will proceed to inform your spouse of the exact consequences of such actions and will know exactly how to ferret out the marital property you deserve.
Penalties for Hiding Assets
It’s just not a good idea to play fast and loose with the rules in divorce. Missouri divorce requires an equitable divorce of marital property. Fudging numbers has potential consequences:
- Failing to submit accurate financial disclosure forms or to reply to requests for discovery relating to financial matters can be problematic when a judge orders you to do so.
- Consequences could include being held in contempt of court, which could add up to jail time and fines.
- Judges who believe one party is trying to conceal financial facts may actually decide to award more to the other spouse.
- You and your soon to be ex will be providing depositions, signing financial affidavits, and responding to official interrogatories in the course of your divorce. Lying during any of this could result in criminal perjury charges. So hiding assets is no laughing matter.
Finding Hidden Assets
So where can your attorneys look for the assets that aren’t appearing in documentation provided by your former paramour? Here are some thoughts:
- Friends and family: Don’t’ be surprised if people close to your spouse are involved in shady transactions giving them temporary possession of assets.
- Tax returns: A look at tax filings could reveal discrepancies between what your spouse claims to own now and what’s been claimed with the IRS.
- Physical assets: Your spouse may be valuing certain property well below what it’s really worth.
- Safety deposit boxes: Small items like jewelry and cash could easily be hidden in banks to which you have no access.
- Offshore and undisclosed bank accounts: Looking at money transfers could reveal hidden cash and holdings.
- Phony debt: Your spouse may draw up false papers indicating they owe to friends or people unknown to you.
- Tax assessor records: It’s possible your spouse owns property unbeknownst to you that a looksie at tax records could reveal.
- Crypto accounts: Digital currencies are a new and potentially difficult place to track money.
- Business records: Money could be buried in inflated expense reports, underreported profits, or complicated cash flow records.
Getting to the Bottom of it
The dedicated Springfield family attorneys at Courtney & Mills will leave no stone unturned in the hunt for hidden assets. To discuss your situation, schedule a confidential consultation in our Springfield office today.
Source:
revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=452.330
