Could your spouse attempt to hide assets during your divorce?

Confronting a divorce can be challenging for any New Jersey resident. When you first tied the knot, you likely did not expect for your relationship to ever reach this point, but life and circumstances change. Now, you have a lot on your plate as you try to decide the best way to approach your divorce case.

Because you and your spouse accrued a considerable amount of wealth during the course of your marriage, you may have particular concerns about property division and ensuring that you get your fair share. In fact, state equitable division laws dictate that the court will divide assets as fairly as possible. Still, that does not mean that your spouse will act fairly.

Accounting for assets

Depending on the nature of your wealth, you may already have a strong understanding of what makes up your marital property. However, there may be a chance that your spouse could attempt to hide intangible assets in an effort to get more out of the divorce than you. Certainly, hiding assets is against the law, but that does not always stop people from attempting it.

As you prepare for your case and property division proceedings, you may want to determine whether any of the following commonly overlooked assets could fit your case:

• Does your spouse hold an executive-level position in a company? If so, he or she may have restricted stock that needs addressing during your case.
• Do you or your spouse hold any Bitcoin? Cryptocurrency is gaining popularity in certain circles, but it could still be an asset that some people think is easy to hide during divorce.
• Did your spouse serve in the military for 20 years that overlapped with 20 years of your marriage? If so, you may have a claim to his or her military benefits.
• Does your spouse’s job offer a pension as an employee benefit? If so, you may be able to claim a portion of that pension.

It pays to be thorough when considering the marital assets during a divorce. Your spouse could think that he or she is getting away with something by not being forthcoming with financial information, but it could prove detrimental to you. In the event that you discover your spouse has attempted to hide assets, he or she could face repercussions from the court.