When going through a divorce, one of the toughest parts is often the division of assets. This is a difficult time emotionally speaking for many people, and it is also a logistics nightmare in some cases, too.
Unfortunately, things can get even more complex if one person tries to hide assets. What should a person going through divorce know about asset hiding to better catch wind in the early stages?
Active and passive asset hiding
Forbes talks about some of the more passive ways of hiding assets. This is simply by a lack of acknowledgment toward, or reminder of, existing assets that a partner can easily forget about. This includes things like country club memberships or airline mileage.
Many people will take it a step farther when hiding assets and go out of their way to actively hide things, however. For example, a common way of hiding assets involves one person buying expensive items like cars or fine art with the intention of selling or returning it later and getting their money back.
Potential red flags
The red flags that indicate asset hiding differ from person to person. Many people will start behaving more suspiciously, even refusing to let their spouse see receipts and basic financial information without an affidavit.
Others may suddenly change their spending habits to noticeable and alarming degrees. They may either stop superfluous spending altogether, or they could go all in on the big ticket items for the aforementioned tactic.
If a person starts suspecting their spouse of hiding assets, there are ways to check his or her finances in order to prove this suspicion and get the assets owed.