Divorce is never easy, and situations often get worse before they get better when it comes to negotiating terms for a settlement. When you decided to divorce, you hoped to keep things amicable and navigate the process with as little stress as possible. You were more worried about your kids than any other issue; however, once they convinced you they were going to be fine, you felt more at ease.
Although your children’s best interests are still your central focus, there are other nagging issues occupying your mind these days as well, such as what happened to the money in your joint bank account. You are quite certain some of it is missing. Other Tennessee spouses who have experienced similar problems later found out their spouses were trying to hide assets before property division proceedings began.
Read the signs and know how to take action
You’ve always been one to try to see the good in others, even when you are facing differences of opinion. That’s why you didn’t think it would be a problem to achieve a compromise with your spouse regarding child custody or property division. Since your instincts are telling you something is awry, you may want to consider the following list of signs that might suggest hidden assets as a possible problem:
- If you access your jointly owned bank account and there have been withdrawals you were not aware of, you have every right to ask your spouse about the matter. This is often a sign of a hidden asset problem.
- If your spouse responds aggressively or defensively when you ask questions about bank transactions, there may be an underlying reason.
- Was the password changed when you tried to access a home computer or a specific file or website on your computer that you normally can view? When spouses hide assets, they often try to conceal their behavior by preventing the other spouse from getting into online accounts or computer files.
- Were you expecting your spouse to receive a bonus at work or a raise in pay? If you learn that it never came through yet your spouse appears to have more cash flow than usual, it’s a definite cause for concern.
- Has your spouse told you he or she needs to take money out of your joint account to pay back a debt you didn’t know existed? That’s a major red flag as those hiding assets often do so by asking friends or family members to hold money for them until a divorce is finalized.
On one hand, you don’t want to seem like an alarmist. On the other, there appears to be evidence that your spouse is trying to keep certain assets from being subject to property division in your divorce. This type of behavior is not only acrimonious, it is also illegal.
A Tennessee family law attorney knows how to get to the bottom of such mysteries and can also provide counsel and support to help rectify a hidden asset problem.