Divorce and Hidden Assets
Not surprisingly, assets are usually hidden in a divorce situation. Why - well simply greed, or the feelings of betrayal or anger at the need to divide assets in the divorce, or the worry of not getting enough after the divorce all motivate the behavior of hiding assets.
In divorce, the parties assets are divided. Beneath the divorce laws of some states they are divided equally and below the divorce laws of other states, they are divided "equitably" or pretty. Equitably frequently means equally to overworked divorce judges.
There is no way to know in advance if your spouse has or will hide assets in a divorce. You know your spouse much better than your divorce lawyer will and you will want to alert your lawyer to the possibility of your spouse hiding assets. Ahead of you get to that point, however, there are some easy actions to take to prevent your spouse from being able to hide assets. Those steps contain locating out almost everything you can about your assets ahead of divorce.
Before you alert your spouse that you are considering divorce, you want to compile and/or stockpile documentation about all of your assets. If you do not have understanding of your marital assets, it is time to find out what is there. If bank and other statements come to the house, open them and write down account numbers and balances.
If you have access to the cancelled checks, copy those as nicely. It is not unusual for a spouse who is preparing a divorce to transfer money to buddies or relatives with the strategy getting that they will give that money back following a divorce is finalized. So, you ought to review those records and very carefully scrutinize all huge or suspicious transfers that take location in the two or three years prior to or just immediately after the filing of a divorce action.
Make confident that you know where the copies of your income tax statements are. If your spouse has a business, make sure you have a copy of numerous years of tax returns for that company. All of these documents can be copied and hidden safely someplace outside of the house in the occasion that you require them. Taking these basic pre-emptive steps can mean the distinction in acquiring powered by a fair settlement in divorce. It will also be incredibly useful to your divorce attorney to have this information in advance.
If banking and other statements and financial records are not kept at or mailed to your house, you will require to obtain those records in other methods. You can contact the IRS to obtain copies of any tax returns that you signed. Request discount oklahoma city divorce attorney copies of those returns and have them mailed to a diverse address - either a buddy or oklahoma city criminal defense attorney relative or your divorce attorney. If there are returns that you have not signed, such as company tax records, you will not be in a position to acquire copies of those returns from the IRS. If you have access to your spouse's spot of company, you could be in a position to uncover those tax returns there. If you are worried about your spouse hiding assets in a divorce, you really do need to have to uncover those returns and make copies of them - for as a lot of years as attainable.
If you have valuables, antiques, jewelry, art or other collectibles in your home, catalog all of them and if you have appraisals, make copies. It is not unusual for those items to disappear or even to be pawned by a spouse in need of much more funds.
If you suspect that your spouse has engaged in some divorce arranging and is hiding assets, let your divorce attorney know. Ask your divorce lawyer to subpoena records from any other individual or entity who could be involved in assisting your spouse in hiding those assets. If need be, your attorney can use the services of an investigator to help to acquire economic records that have been withheld.
