HIDDEN ASSETS
TRACKING DOWN THE FULL INVENTORY OF THE MARITAL ESTATE
In anticipation of divorce, or as a spiteful reaction, spouses sometimes try to downplay income, hide money or transfer property out of the estate. This directly contradicts the spirit of the law and the specific rules of discovery and disclosure.
The Law Offices of Harris & Literski has helped clients discover hidden assets and obtain their rightful share. In fact, the court can punish such conduct by awarding more than half of the recovered asset in the overall property settlement. Contact our experienced divorce lawyers if you suspect your spouse is deliberately holding back.
HIDDEN ASSETS AND ACCOUNTS
There are countless ways for a determined spouse to hide assets:
Secret bank accounts and investments
Offshore accounts and dummy corporations
Transferring title to a friend or relative
Underreporting earnings or sources of income
“Disappearing” assets
Truthfully, many hidden assets stay hidden. But if you know that money or property existed and it was not disclosed in the discovery process, we can bring in forensic accountants and private investigators to try to follow the paper trail or electronic evidence. Under Sands v. Sands, the judge can award up to the entire asset to the spouse who was wrongfully deprived.
Our client knew of $100,000 in gold coins that was not accounted for in discovery. By raising it as a violation, we forced the other party to come clean.
A third party stumbled upon $65,000 in undeposited checks that the ex-husband had taped to the underside of a chair. The tactic backfired when the court awarded 80 percent of the hidden money to our client.
An estranged wife sold real estate the coupled owned and used the proceeds to buy a house in her boyfriend’s name. The court took her to task for fraudulent conveyance and our client recovered his share of the diverted equity.
A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO YOUR DIVORCE
Our attorneys have extensive experience in high net worth property division and hidden assets in divorce. We know what to look for and how to ferret out the truth when a spouse is deliberately playing shell games with marital property.
Contact us to arrange a free initial consultation. We serve Livingston County and surrounding areas of Michigan.