A Full-Service Law Firm

Where To Look For Hidden Assets

On Behalf of | Dec 7, 2017 | divorce |

If you and your spouse had significant assets during your marriage, one spouse may be tempted to try to that people hide some of those assets, thus making them unavailable to be split up in a divorce. While there are several ways a person can try to hide assets, including the straightforward method of moving joint funds into an individual account, there are some methods for hiding assets that may only be available to people with considerable resources.

Delayed compensation

If your spouse is expecting a bonus, commission, or other financial windfall to take place through a business or work transaction, he or she could attempt to hide that money by delaying the payment until after the divorce has been finalized. Money that comes in to one party after the divorce would be considered to be individual income, not subject to be split as a part of the divorce.

Creative business expenses

If your spouse owns his or her own business, they may suddenly get very creative about their deductible business expenses as a way to lower their income that would be susceptible to division in a divorce.

Overzealous tax payment

If a person pays too much tax for a given year, they can instruct the IRS to hold the money to apply it to subsequent tax years. This is also a convenient way to make your income for the year look smaller than it actually is, thus lowering the amount of money available to be paid to a spouse in divorce.

A good divorce lawyer won’t be fooled

Your spouse may think he or she knows some clever ways to hide money, but having a lawyer on your side who knows what to look for can help you protect your assets and your rights in the midst of a high-asset divorce.

Archives