Married couples often keep secrets from each other. Sometimes, when those secrets get out, they lead to divorce. Other times, one partner clings to their secrets through the divorce or creates new ones hoping they will enhance the share of the assets they leave the marriage with.
Hiding that you have a lover or prefer people of the same sex is not illegal. Hiding financial secrets might be.
You need to be honest and disclose all your assets in a divorce
When you go to divorce, a court will need to see a list of all your assets and debts. It then decides how to divide those it considers marital instead of separate. The law says it must do so equitably, which it cannot do if one of you fails to disclose items. It can only share out things it knows about.
People hide assets in several ways
These include:
- Putting property into someone else’s name
- Moving it into a trust offshore or in another state
- Fudging the accounts to make it look like a business makes a loss
- Telling others to hold off on payments such as bonuses
Your spouse may think they are hiding assets from you, but in doing so, they are also hiding them from the court. Hence if you uncover evidence to prove what your spouse is doing, a judge may not only award you a fair share but punish your spouse for their deceit by giving you more than an equitable share when dividing property in your divorce.