When spouses divorce, it is important to know about all of the assets and liabilities of each spouse so that marital property can be properly distributed. However, spouses sometimes hide assets so it is difficult for the other spouse(s) to learn about such assets and petition a court for their fair share of the assets. Residents of Indiana and other states should know about certain assets that are easily hidden during a divorce.
Bank accounts
Spouses normally establish joint bank accounts as well as individual accounts (with the other spouse’s knowledge) to maintain their cash. However, a spouse may sometimes place money in a hidden bank account without the knowledge of the other spouse. Sometimes, hidden bank accounts are established to hide spending from the other spouse, and other times they are created to frustrate efforts to equitably divide assets during a divorce. An experienced divorce attorney should know ways to discover hidden bank accounts of another spouse.
Stocks
Stocks are another asset that is easy to hide from the other spouse. Individuals can place stocks in their own name, and their spouse will not necessarily receive paperwork related to the stocks, so they may not know about the existence of such assets. Moreover, stocks can be sold at any time, and the cash resulting from such a sale is also easy to hide from the other spouse.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is digital money that is very difficult to track and is simple to hide. Cryptocurrency is becoming more prevalent, and some forms of cryptocurrency have exploded in value in recent years. Spouses are increasingly using such money to have a transferrable asset that can be kept hidden from the other spouse.
Retirement benefits
Individuals can earn a variety of retirement benefits from their work, including pensions, 401(k) accounts and other benefits. It may be difficult for spouses to keep track of another spouse’s retirement benefits because paperwork relating to these benefits is only accessible to the spouse who works at the company offering the benefits.
Anyone dealing with a spouse attempting to hide their retirement benefits or assets during a divorce should benefit from hiring an experienced divorce lawyer. The lawyer will be aware of the various legal tools available to uncover evidence of all aspects of benefits, financial accounts and other assets that belong in the marital pot. And the Judge can then divide the marital pot so that the clients receive the share of all of the property to which they are entitled.
