When you exchange your marital vows, ‘till death do us part,’ you definitely do not see a divorce in the future. Yet, more than half of all marriages end in divorce, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Terminating a marriage can be extremely emotional and it may be overwhelming to make difficult decisions during this hard time. One of the most difficult tasks to tackle is dividing marital property, or the property and assets that were amassed during the course of the marriage. During the divorce, both parties are required to disclose all property and assets that were accumulated throughout the marriage. Yet, in some cases, spouses may be tempted to hide property in order to keep it solely to themselves once the divorce is finalized.
There are certain red flags that you want to look out for when going through the divorce process. Be on the lookout if your spouse does any of the following:
- Maintains control of certain bank accounts and is the only one who knows the passwords to certain accounts
- Owns a business and is complete control of assets, income, profits and documents involved in the business
- Unexpectedly loses or deletes important account information
- Begins buying expensive items, such as art, cars and/or jewelry
Your spouse may give expensive gifts or money to close friends or family members with the intention of regaining possession of those items once the divorce is finalized. Any of these may be deemed as hiding marital property, and you should take property action to regain control of the money that is rightly owed to you.
This information is intended to educate and should not be taken as legal advice.
