Divorce is quite common these days, yet the trauma and turmoil it brings to the people caught up in the divorce process can be hard to handle.  This is particularly true when one party wants the divorce and the other one doesn’t, or when one party is financially stronger than the other. In these kinds of cases, if the split is amicable, then the distribution of property and assets can be easily achieved. However if there is acrimony and a feeling of betrayal, it will make the one who’s being divorced hard to handle and vindictive.

The knowledge that this might happen would have, in turn lead the party who wants the divorce tostash away funds or assets in order to prevent the potential ex from walking away with a chunk of their earnings. If you are the one being divorced, and if the entire process is a shock to you, then it is a clear indication that your spouse has been planning it for a while. This would have given them time to secret away large chunks of cash, bonds, jewelry or other assets in lockers or in their friends’ and relatives’ names. Alternately, they can bury their cash in plain sight, by paying off credit cards or other debts without the knowledge of their spouse.

During the divorce process, both the parties are expected to declare all their assets, separate, joint or marital and also comingled, which is a mixture of separate and marital assets. If one of the parties,  usually the one with better net worth, refuses to disclose their assets, then your divorce lawyers has to move for a ‘discovery process’ which entails finding out about their financials from other sources. You can ask for and obtain all stock certificates, receipts, bank records and check them out. Be warned though, that more often than not, willfully hidden assets can remain hidden.

Your divorce attorney will hire an investigator who can follow the money trail, your spouse’s habit while traveling and during holidays and use similar means to find out the hidden assets.

During the ‘discovery process’, you and your divorce lawyer can demand and legally obtain copies of all financial documents pertaining to bank statements, investments, tax returns, etc. If the spouse is a business owner, they can also use their business to hide the assets. In cases where the spouse is particularly difficult and uncooperative, you can ask for a deposition, where he or she will be forced to tell the truth, under oath. If the spouse lies during the deposition, and is proved to have done so, the judge can impose sanctions on your spouse.

The documents you can ask for include Form 1040, Schedule A – Itemized deductions, Schedule A – Miscellaneous deductions, Schedule B – Part III – Foreign Accounts (many business owners prefer to have off-shore accounts, which are also tax-havens and help to conceal their assets during divorce), Schedule C – Profit or Loss from the business, Schedule E- Supplemental Income & Loss, etc.  Your spouse is bound by the law to produce all the above documents and more during the ‘discovery process’ and the deposition.

As a last resort, you can subpoena your spouse’s bank records and the bank is obliged to release the same, or be held in contempt of court. Your divorce lawyer might, depending on the assets and documents revealed during the deposition, hire an investigator who can ferret out any other previously hidden assets.

At Kenny Leigh & Associates we understand the trauma faced by men, fathers in particular, when couples are in the middle of a bitterly contested divorce. This is so because traditionally the law and the courts favor a woman and the mother. We strive to redress the balance and fight for the rights of the men. If you are a man thinking of divorce, call us today. We operate from five different locations in the Jacksonville Florida area, like Gainesville, Boca Raton, Fleming Island and Daytona.

By Kenny Leigh