When you decide to get divorced, one thing you have to ask yourself is whether or not your spouse is actually going to be honest during the process. They are required to disclose all of the assets that you both own — as you are — but they may be tempted to hide some of them. Doing so prevents you from getting a fair portion of those assets in the split, and it is, therefore, illegal, but people do try it. Here are three ways they do it.
Fake loans
Your spouse gives away his or her money. They call it a loan, and it goes to a friend, a family member or a business partner. Except it’s only a loan in the sense that the other person plans to pay them back immediately after your divorce.
Hidden cash
Sometimes, it’s as easy as putting cash in a drawer or a safety deposit box. Some people, when they’ve been planning to get divorced for a long time, will do it in small amounts. It’s not as if your spouse pulls $100,000 out the day before the divorce. Instead, they take $100 in cash back when they go to the store, over and over and over again.
Fake business expenses
If your spouse is a business owner, hiding money gets even easier. They may suddenly have a lot of new expenses that they never had before. They quickly funnel as much of their personal money into the business as they can.
What now?
If you think that your spouse is hiding assets, it’s critical to know what steps you can take to uncover them.