Going through divorce is already difficult enough without throwing complications into the mix. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens when one spouse decides to hide assets.
It is important to understand asset hiding, the places that a spouse may try to hide assets, and what to do if suspicious of hidden assets.
Asset transfer
Forbes discusses asset hiding. Asset hiding involves a spouse attempting to, discreetly or otherwise, hide their property, income, money and other items of value that would otherwise end up split during the divorce process.
There are many ways a person could hide assets. Some of the more classic ways include paying back false debts to family or friends with the intention of getting the money back later. A person may also transfer one asset into another type of asset, such as buying expensive electronics or fine art with the intention of selling or returning it later.
Digital wallets
In more recent days, people also rely on digital wallets and cryptocurrency to achieve the same goal. They invest in bitcoin or other cryptocurrency and do not alert their spouse to this.
Why does it happen?
The reason for doing this varies. However, in most cases, the spouse who does the hiding does not want to give anything else to their soon-to-be ex-partner. The feeling may come from jealousy, or it may stem from a genuine fear of losing the ability to live up to one’s adjusted level of standard.
Whatever the case, it is illegal to hide assets. If someone suspects a spouse of attempting to do this, they have options regarding what actions they want to take next.
