Under Texas law, when a married couple divorces, the parties must list all their assets. From there, they begin the process of property division by dividing personal property from marital property. From there, the parties divide the marital property according to state law.
Dividing the marital property can be a long, drawn-out process, especially in cases of high asset divorce, in which complicated assets such as retirement accounts and stock options are involved. However, for many couples the difficulty of this process actually begins earlier, when the spouses list their assets.
The law requires the parties to list everything, but unfortunately many divorcing spouses try to illegally hide assets at this point in the process. Some of them use complicated accounting strategies or offshore accounts to do so, but many simply lie about what they own.
One might think that a lie such as this would be easy to detect. After all, the parties were married and presumably knew everything about each other’s finances, right? Wrong.
According to recent surveys, many spouses are in the dark when it comes to the most basic financial information about their significant others. One survey found that a third of respondents admitted to lying about bills or finances to their spouse.
The end of a marriage can be a very emotional time, but the property division is all about numbers and cold, hard facts. A Texas attorney with experience in high asset divorce knows warning signs to look for when a spouse appears to be hiding assets. These attorneys can help their clients to get the settlement they deserve so that they are better prepared to move on to happier days in the future.
Source: AOL Money, “Half of people don’t know what their partner earns: the risks,” Sarah Coles, April 10, 2014