To ensure you have financial stability post-divorce, you have to effectively navigate the property division process. That might sound simple enough given that the law requires equitable division of the marital estate, but the matter can become quite complex. Valuating assets can be challenging, assessing current financial positioning can change a division determination, and identifying all assets that should be included in the property division process can be harder than you think. And when it comes to this last consideration, one issue that you may never have anticipated facing is your spouse hiding assets.
Yet, spouses hide assets all the time. If you suspect that your spouse is doing so and don’t take action to stop them, then you’ll lose out on an opportunity to secure the financial resources you deserve. After all, Pennsylvania recognizes equitable division of marital assets, which means you should get your fair share. So, in the remainder of this post, we want to look at some signs that indicate your spouse may be squirreling assets away from your view. That way you’ll be ready to take action to hopefully loop those assets back into the property division process.
There are several red flags that indicate that your spouse may be hiding marital assets from you. This includes each of the following:
- Your spouse controls marital finances: If your spouse has consistently refused to relinquish control over your marital finances, then there’s a good chance that they’re trying to hide something. You have to get your hands on your marital financial records so that you can see if they’re trying to hide something from you. That might be daunting to think about given their controlling nature, but you can use the discovery process in your divorce to gain access to key documents.
- You notice large and unjustified purchases. In some divorces, one spouse makes large purchases with the intent of keeping that asset for themselves, or perhaps even later selling the asset and keeping the money for themselves. But your spouse probably isn’t going to come out and tell you about these purchases. It therefore falls on you to identify them and work to loop those assets back into the property division process.
- Your spouse indicates that they’ve been demoted or subjected to a pay cut: This information might be true, but it might not. This is a common tactic used by spouses who want to stash a larger portion of their income away for their own use post-divorce. Again, using the discovery process should help you figure out how much your spouse is really making, that way you can advocate for your fair share.
- You lose access to bank statements: If you no longer receive paper statements or can’t log into your online account, then your spouse may be trying to hide something. In many of these instances, one spouse has blocked the other from accessing bank statements so that they can try to withdraw money from the joint account for deposit into their own personal account.
If your spouse hides assets from you and you don’t hold them accountable, then you could lose out on the post-divorce financial stability that you want and need. And don’t make the mistake of thinking that your spouse would never try to hide assets from you.
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