When you get a divorce in Pennsylvania, you and your ex will have to find a way to split your assets — or ask the courts to do it on your behalf. However, it can be very difficult to secure a fair outcome in a divorce if your spouse has hidden assets from you and failed to report those assets to the courts.
High-asset divorces where one or both spouses have significant income or accrued assets can often involve someone trying to hide possessions, bank accounts or a cache of cash. If you suspect that your spouse may have hidden assets, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself prior to filing for divorce.
Take action, and prepare for a potential investigation
If your spouse has hidden assets, once they know you intend to divorce them, they could very well destroy or hide pertinent records that might help you track down those assets. In other words, getting copies of financial statements, bank records and tax documents before you ever say anything to your spouse can give you a more even playing field in a high asset divorce.
Sometimes, you can quickly find records of hidden assets, such as a direct deposit from your spouse’s pay that have gone into an account you never knew existed for the entire duration of your marriage. Other times, it may seem like money or assets are missing, but you can’t locate them on your own. In that situation, it may become necessary to bring in financial professionals, like forensic accountants, to track down hidden assets as part of a pending Pennsylvania divorce.
Only when you have located all the assets can you truly request a fair split of them as part of the divorce.