Going through a divorce poses enough hurdles without having to worry about whether or not your soon-to-be ex-spouse made attempts at cheating you out of your share of assets. Unfortunately, hiding assets is a common tactic among many divorcing couples.
To protect your share, you should understand potential red flags of hidden assets to look out for.
Changes in spousal behavior
Forbes talks about how to locate signs of hidden assets in divorce. First, note your spouse’s behavior, especially involving financial matters. Many spouses attempting to get away with hidden assets will act in a furtive, secretive, guilty or nervous way, as they know they should not be engaging in this act. They may refuse to share financial information with you without a financial affidavit, even down to small things like store receipts.
Differences in day to day expenses
You may also notice changes to their spending behaviors. Many spouses trying to pull off asset hiding will begin “hiding” their assets in plain sight: in the physical items they own. This is due to the fact that judges are less likely to order someone to divide up personal items bought with their own money compared to cash assets. However, this tactic involves returning the physical items or selling them after completion of the divorce process to get those cash assets back.
Finally, spouses may try to hide actual cash in locations around the home or at work. Take note if they seem to disappear to infrequently used rooms more than usual, or if they get a lockbox or another form of protective box out of nowhere. These may all indicate that your spouse tried to hide away some of their assets.
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