Not all spouses are entirely honest with one other, especially when it comes to money. In fact, your seemingly honest and upfront husband or wife could be hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in a secret bank or investment account. For this reason, if you have any suspicions that your soon-to-be ex is hiding assets in your divorce, you may want to try the following three strategies for uncovering hidden money in a divorce:
Voluntary disclosures: Every spouse must voluntarily disclose his or her assets and liabilities as a part of the divorce process. Disclosing assets like this happens during the discovery – or information exchange – process of divorce litigation. The voluntary information spouses provide at this stage is important for determining the distribution of the marital estate. Look over these voluntary disclosures carefully to see if you can identify any noteworthy omissions or mistakes. You may want to have specific property independently appraised as well.
Involuntary disclosures: As a part of the litigation and discovery process you can make formal demands for more information. These demands are called interrogatories and your spouse is bound to answer them truthfully. By asking for bank records, tax filings, trust and estate documents and asking for the answers to specific questions, you may be able to uncover a lot.
Depositions: During a deposition your divorce attorney can ask pointed questions to your spouse to help identify hidden assets and/or to catch your spouse in a lie.
If your spouse is hiding assets in your divorce, you should inform your divorce attorney immediately. Your attorney will respond and leave no stone unturned until every dollar of your marital estate has been uncovered.
