Dividing assets after divorce is something many couples struggle to do on their own. As a result, they have to report their assets to the court, and then the court determines the proper way to split up those assets.
However, some spouses decide that they don’t want to divide specific assets, even though they’re legally obligated to do so, and they try to hide or conceal those assets to keep them out of court. If you think your spouse may be doing this during your divorce, you need to know how it may happen.
Debt that never existed
One way that people do this is by making up debt that never actually existed to begin with. They can then lower the amount of assets they control. For instance, your spouse may say that they forgot about a loan that they gave to a family member 10 years ago, but they now want to pay it back. They give the money to that family member, who then returns it after the divorce.
Another way to do this is with a business. Say your spouse owns a farming operation that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to run each year. If the amount of financial obligations starts to climb as you get closer to divorce, you may want to ask yourself if they’re inflating that debt or simply lying about it as a way to transfer personal assets to the business. A significant change in finances should be a red flag at this time.
What can you do?
You want a proper division of family assets. If your spouse is actively working against this, you need to know what legal steps you can take.