How to Tell if a Spouse Is Hiding Assets in a Kansas Divorce

Divorce is often a highly emotional process, but it can also be a sophisticated financial undertaking. Decisions you make before the dissolution of your marriage is finalized might have a profound effect on your ability to maintain the lifestyle you’re used to in the years to come. Terms relating to property division, spousal maintenance and child support hinge on an accurate representation of each party’s assets, income and financial holdings. Even child custody arrangements might be influenced by parents’ economic status. Unfortunately, there are husbands and wives who hide certain assets in order to gain an advantage during their divorce.

Though the law requires spouses to provide a full and honest financial disclosure at the outset of the divorce process, there are several red flags that might indicate your husband or wife is concealing something. Situations that could warrant further investigation include the following:  

• New or hidden accounts — If income from your spouse that traditionally went to a bank account that you shared now is going somewhere else, you should request detailed information. It is also possible that there have been longstanding accounts that you did not know about because they were established offshore or because communications were sent to a P.O. box or secret email address.
• Cryptocurrency activity — A relatively recent trend in divorce cases is the use of cryptocurrency and other digital assets as a method of storing wealth that is difficult to trace. Recent transfers involving hardware wallets, privacy coins, NFTs or significant balances parked in Venmo, Cash App, PayPal or prepaid debit cards might be a tactic to manipulate divorce terms.
• Questionable business activity — Someone who owns or has significant control over a business might minimize receivables, underestimate company assets or start using company business funds to cover personal expenses in order to provide a false representation of their true financial position. 
• Dubious loans or gifts — Watch for money or property that goes to one of your spouse’s family members or friend under the guise of a loan or gift. There might be an agreement to reverse the transaction once the divorce is over.  

There is no time to wait if you are concerned about potential fraudulent behavior affecting your divorce terms. Through the discovery process, your attorney can request documents and information from financial institutions and other parties, as well as your husband or wife. However, you should immediately work to gather and safeguard documents such as tax returns W-2s/1099s/K-1s, bank and brokerage statements, retirement plan statements, credit card and loan records, payroll stubs and crypto exchange reports. 

Your attorney can advise if retaining a forensic accountant would give you a better chance at fair property division, alimony and child support terms. These experts can trace funds, value businesses accurately, reconstruct income and use blockchain analytics for crypto. A lifestyle analysis can test whether spending matches reported earnings.  

Located in Overland Park, The Henry Law Firm P.A. assists Kansas clients with all types of family law matters, including high-asset divorces and cases where a spouse is suspected of hiding what they own. Please call 913-381-5020 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.