When two people get divorced, they have to divide their marital assets. Generally speaking, these are just assets that they acquired together. For instance, if you and your spouse bought a car together, you cannot simply take that car when the marriage ends because your spouse also has a right to it.
Of course, people don’t always want to split their assets fairly or properly with their ex. You may be worried that your former partner is going to attempt to hide assets so that you cannot receive them. How might they do this?
Giving them away
One of the most common tactics is to give the assets away. But that doesn’t mean they’re lost forever. It just means that your ex has a friend who is willing to hold those assets for them. Once your divorce is over and the rest of the assets have been split up, your ex will get back the money that they gave away, all without dividing it with you.
Overpaying bills
Overpaying some bills, such as your income taxes, may cause you to get a refund check a few months down the line. People will sometimes overpay so that it appears that they own fewer assets, but then they will not share that eventual refund check when it comes in.
Putting them in other accounts
Finally, people will move assets into accounts that they hope you won’t find or don’t know about. They might transfer money into a business account, for example, or into an overseas account. They could also invest it in cryptocurrency or another type of online asset. All of this is just being done to keep you from getting what you really deserve.
If you’re worried that your spouse is going to do this or if you believe they already are, you need to know what legal steps to take.