When you begin working toward divorce, you will want to keep a close watch on one another’s financial activities. After all, asset division is one of the biggest and most important parts of the divorce process. Through this, you will determine crucial matters like spousal or child support.
Unfortunately, it is possible for your spouse to cheat you out of the support you should be getting. They may do this by hiding their assets.
Why do people do it?
As Forbes states, hiding assets during divorce is not a new phenomenon. People try and fail to get around fair asset division every year and have done so since the dawn of modern divorce laws. A spouse may try to hide assets for various reasons, such as genuinely fearing they will not have enough to get by on otherwise, or out of a misdirected sense of spite.
What are some red flags?
The ways in which they may try to hide assets also differs from person to person, but some red flags may remain the same among various cases. For example, furtive or secretive behavior often accompanies this underhanded action. A spouse will try to hide the fact that they are not being honest and upfront with their finances, so they may begin refusing to show you any financial documents without an enforced affidavit.
You may also notice changes in their spending habits, such as the purchase of big-ticket items which they intend to return or sell after the divorce. They do all of this in an attempt to make their overall assets seem smaller, thus resulting in a smaller alimony or child support payment.