Hiding Assets In Divorce
Is there a possibility your spouse might be trying to hide assets in order to double-cross you out of your fair share in a divorce? If so, you truly would benefit from an experienced, tough divorce attorney who will fight for the best outcomes for you. An attorney with the right knowhow can flush out the marital property you deserve.
Penalties for Hiding Assets
It’s absolutely a bad idea to play fast and loose with the rules in divorce. Maryland divorce law compels an equitable divorce of marital property. Falsifying numbers to avoid a fair split has a number of potential consequences, all of them serious:
- A spouse who doesn’t submit accurate financial disclosure forms or reply to requests for financial discovery matters is in violation of a judge’s orders. One consequence could include being held in contempt of court, which could result in fines and jail time.
- If it looks like one party is trying to conceal financial facts, a judge might decide to award more to the other party.
- Since both parties must sign financial affidavits, provide depositions, and respond to official interrogatories in the course of a divorce, there are lots of opportunities to lie. But lying during any of this could result in criminal perjury charges. That, of course, could lead to more fines and time behind bars.
Finding Hidden Assets
Where might your attorney search for the assets that aren’t appearing in documentation provided by your former spouse? There are oodles of potential hiding places:
- Tax returns: Tax filings could unveil discrepancies between current claims and what’s been past claims with the IRS.
- Family and/or friends: Don’t’ be stunned to discover that individuals close to your spouse may help with shady transactions that involve temporary ownership of certain assets. Bogus debt: It’s conceivable to have false papers drawn up with friends or people unknown to you signifying debt that is not real.
- Lowball Appraisals: Your spouse may be valuing certain assets—from vehicles and real estate to artwork and electronics– well below their true value.
- Safety deposit boxes: Cash, stock certificates, jewelry, and other small articles could easily be hidden in safety deposit boxes to which you have no access.
- Undisclosed or offshore bank accounts: A look at transfers could reveal hidden cash and holdings.
- Business records: Inflated expense reports, underreported profits, or complicated cash flow records could conceal assets.
- Tax assessor records: Property owned unbeknownst to you could be discovered with looksie at tax records.
- Crypto accounts: Digital currencies are a new and potentially difficult place to track money.
Getting to the Bottom of it
The Baltimore family attorneys at The Law Office of Hasson D. Barnes will leave no stone unturned in the hunt for hidden assets. To discuss your situation, schedule a confidential consultation in our Baltimore office today.
