Division of assets often serves as one of the biggest hurdles to overcome during the divorce process.
Unfortunately, sometimes a spouse may attempt to make things even harder than usual by attempting to hide assets. What red flags can you keep an eye out for if you have any suspicions?
Digital asset hiding
Forbes discusses asset hiding in divorce. These days, some people choose to hide assets via digital means, an option that previously did not exist. When a spouse tries to hide assets like this, they will purchase cryptocurrency such as bitcoin with the intention of selling their shares after the divorce process completes.
Passively hidden assets
There are more “traditional” ways of hiding assets too, though. With passively hidden assets, a spouse will simply neglect to inform their partner about an asset they might have forgotten. This can include things like airline mileage or country club membership, which a person does not typically think about on a daily basis.
Direct and active asset hiding
Active asset hiding involves a person going out of their way to obscure the source of an asset or an asset in its entirety. Popular methods of hiding assets actively include making up false debts to repay and leaving money with a person who will return the money after the divorce gets finalized.
Another popular method involves buying big-ticket items with the intention of returning them to get the money back after the divorce.
This is why differences in financial spending behavior serve as one of the biggest red flags that may indicate asset hiding.