Divorce can be the occasion for a game of financial "cat and mouse" in which one spouse hides assets or makes other unethical moves. In some cases, the gaps in the financial information you get from your spouse occur because of honest errors.
Many individuals are not detail-oriented when it comes to personal finances, and in the tension of divorce, might forget some specifics.
On the other hand, some spouses purposely conceal the value of a business or switch funds into secret accounts. If the judge finds out, the spouse who hides assets might be deemed guilty of "economic misconduct." This misconduct is most likely to have an effect on the final settlement - the misbehaving spouse will probably get less than the innocent spouse.
If you have any reason to think your spouse is being much less than candid with you about income or other assets, you'll need to do a little detective work on your own.
If your personal review of records like old income tax returns does not yield outcomes, think about hiring a unique kind of certified public accountant called a forensic accountant. These specialists will comb via your records and can generally produce an correct picture of your spouse's financial position. Their services, nevertheless, can be expensive. You must weigh the cost of hiring a forensic accountant against the dollar quantity at stake in your divorce.
The legal procedure of "discovery" can be used to force a reluctant spouse to turn over records and statements. Discovery is really a formal informationgathering process utilized in lawsuits. Spouses (usually via lawyers) send papers to each other asking that questions be answered or documents turned over.
An additional procedure used in discovery is taking depositions - that is, orally asking questions. Be warned, however, that discovery is usually timeconsuming and pricey, and might ultimately turn up nothing of importance. Therefore, gather information informally if feasible.
Regardless of how you really feel about your soon-to-be-ex-spouse, you might have a legal obligation to behave responsibly toward him or her as long as you remain married. For instance, California law states that spouses have a fiduciary responsibility to each other.
This obligation is comparable to the kind of responsibility real estate agents have toward the people they represent in house sales or to that in between the trustee of a trust fund and the beneficiary of the fund. This duty means that each spouse must handle the family finances in a "prudent" manner and should make all information available to the other.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Dean Ruttfield at 01172011
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