Can You Conceal Some Assets During Your Divorce?

One of the things that your family lawyer will require when they are preparing your divorce case is financial records. These financial records are utilised to determine your fiscal worth, your ex-spouse's net worth, your financial contribution to the marriage, your joint worth as a couple and so on. Having this information is critical as it helps the court determine the cost of alimony, child support, asset distribution and more. However, a common issue that arises in court is one spouse concealing a substantial chunk of their assets with the hope that this will exempt them from making expensive payments to their former spouse but this is illegal. If you or your ex are deliberating on concealing assets during your divorce, here are a few of the ramifications of doing so.

One would pay exorbitant fines

The most common consequence of the court discerning one is concealing assets is to heavily fine the guilty party. In typical cases, the amount of the fine will be based on the overall value of the hidden assets. For example, an individual that has concealed assets that are worth several million will pay substantially more than a person that is hiding assets that are not worth more than a couple of thousands.

One would be charged with financial fraud

While hiding assets may seem like a good idea at the beginning, more so if one inherently believes that their spouse did not contribute to the acquisition of said assets, it should be noted that this would be deemed as lying to the court. After the documents outlining everything that one owns are signed, these documents need to be free of any errors or falsehoods. Thus, if your spouse is guilty of consciously leaving out information about their net worth, they can be charged criminally for financial fraud and this will translate into jail time.

One would receive an unequal share

The third consequence of attempting to conceal assets from the court and subsequently the divorce proceedings is exposing oneself to unequal asset distribution. What some people take for granted is that the court has the final say on how best the marital assets should be divided. When each spouse is honest about their net worth, the court will consider factors such as who primarily takes care of the children, custody arrangements and more to determine how the wealth can be shared equitably. If one spouse is found to be concealing assets, the court can opt to endow the honest spouse with a larger share of the assets.

Contact a family law solicitor for more information.

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