How to Prevent Your Spouse From Hiding Assets in a Divorce
Finder Law Serves Clients Across Jefferson City, Columbia, and Central Missouri
Divorces can bring out the worst in people, especially if they feel like they need to protect their financial assets. Spouses may try to get back at their spouse or use their children to protect their position. With high-earning spouses, it can also be common for them to hide their assets during a divorce. While it may seem tempting to hide assets from the court during a divorce, it could end up hurting both spouses and their children in the end. How do people attempt to hide their assets? What should you do if you think your spouse is hiding assets? Here’s some information that could help you.
Even under the best of circumstances, divorces are complicated. For people with high net worths, it can be very difficult to untangle all their finances & assets. High asset divorces are more complicated than others and can include some unique challenges.
One example of this is that it may be necessary to retain an appraiser to calculate the value of property & how it can be divided fairly. It may also be important to hire a forensic accountant to find & properly value bank accounts, investments, and possible accounts kept overseas.
Other types of assets or challenges could include:
- Inheritances
- Foreign bank accounts
- International real estate
- Businesses
- Stocks & bonds
- Pensions
- Pre-nuptial agreements
It can be hard enough to fairly divide assets in a normal divorce case, but when the assets are highly valuable, these issues can be much more complicated.
What does it mean to hide assets?
By law, spouses in a divorce are required to report all their assets to ensure property is divided fairly. This does not mean equal (50/50), but equitable, ensuring that both spouses can maintain a similar standard of living that they enjoyed when married. Any assets not reported to the court are considered hidden. The court can investigate what these assets may be and where they may be hidden. This can result in criminal charges as well since it is legally required for both parties to honestly and fully disclose all assets in a divorce proceeding.
How do spouses hide assets?
While the reasons for hiding assets are innumerable, the most common ways spouses engage in hiding assets are:
- Purchasing new, expensive items, such as cars, boats, etc.
- Hiding cash
- Paying off a personal loan
- Delaying promotions or bonuses
- Not reporting cash income or gifts
- Delaying invoicing salary earnings
- Taking out custodial accounts in a child’s name
One or multiple methods can be used to hide assets during a divorce. If you think your spouse is hiding assets, you should contact an attorney right away.
How to prevent your spouse from hiding assets

It can be very difficult to find hidden assets and professional accountants may be necessary in some cases. The discovery phase of a divorce is important because it requires both parties to share information that is relevant when considering a fair division of assets. In this phase, spouses can request specific documentation about potentially hidden assets and the court can compel the other party to produce said information. If they refuse to provide that information or refuse to acknowledge the existence of an asset you know they have, a forensic account may be hired.
If you believe your spouse is attempting to hide assets and prevent a fair divorce settlement, reach out to Daniel Finder at Finder Law. He is an experienced family law attorney that can help ensure these assets are found, accounted for, and considered in your settlement. You’ll receive personalized legal advice from someone who will aggressively fight for you.
Call us today to schedule a consultation and get started on your modification.
