Divorce and Discovery of Hidden Assets in DuPage County

 Posted on August 17, 2022 in Divorce

 Hiding assets during divorce proceedings is illegal yet quite common, especially when the divorce is contentious. Divorcing spouses must disclose all marital assets, including annual income and debt. Cheating an ex-spouse out of assets that are rightly due to them can occur in various forms. This kind of deception is prevalent among conventional and high-net-worth complex divorces and predominately affects non-contributing spouses. A divorce attorney adept at hidden assets and asset tracing can strategize to help secure a fair settlement.

Ten Common Ways a Spouse Can Hide Assets

According to a National Endowment for Financial Education survey, 58 percent of those surveyed admitted that they had hidden money from their spouse, and 34 percent admitted to lying to their spouse about finances and debt. Hiding minor purchases from a spouse accounted for 54 percent of those surveyed, while 84 percent admitted to hiding financial statements or bills from their spouse. Hiding assets can be easily accomplished and can include the following.

1. Exaggerating debts

2. Concealing assets under a different entity, like a corporation

3. Making large purchases in cash

4. Covertly purchasing real estate with marital money

5. Deferring bonuses or promotions until after the divorce

6. Investing in the stock market with marital money behind the spouse’s back

7. Secretly opening bank accounts to hide marital money

8. Undervaluing marital property, such as jewelry or art 

9. Lying about annual income by decreasing the amount

10. Lying about expenses and bills by increasing the amount

Investigating Hidden Assets

Dividing a marital estate involves identification, classification, and division. Suspecting a spouse is hiding assets can make the equitable division of marital property challenging and time-consuming. To uncover fraud, a diligent asset tracing attorney may execute some or all of the following steps.

• Conduct depositions

• Conduct interrogations

• Request financial statement

• Examine electronic paper trails, like e-mails and online banking statements

In high-net-worth divorces, an attorney may solicit the assistance of a forensic accountant, which entails accounting, auditing, and tracing, identifying, and recovering the assets when investigating the finances of the culpable spouse. A forensic accountant provides due diligence testimony to the court, explaining the uncovered assets and how they were traced. 

Contact a DuPage County Hidden Asset and Asset Tracing Attorney

At Pesce Law Group P.C., a full-service family law firm, our focused, dependable, vigilant, and resourceful divorce attorneys aggressively advocate for fair and favorable solutions. We understand how to identify hidden assets and strategize to secure just settlements. If you suspect your ex-spouse is hiding assets contact a Burr Ridge divorce attorney at 630-230-1002 for a free consultation.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefflanders/2012/11/14/what-are-the-consequences-of-hiding-assets-during-divorce

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/forensicaccounting.asp