Besides losing assets, the other thing most couples don’t like losing is money. To ensure they don’t lose the precious amount, they try to hide it, among many other tricks. Should you be pulling money tricks? If they are safe, you should go ahead and protect what you value, but if they aren’t safe, don’t go ahead with it.
To protect you from making the wrong moves, here are 4 money moves you shouldn’t make during your divorce:
Don’t transfer money haphazardly.
You can go ahead and transfer your own money, but you should be cautious how you go about it as transferring a lot of money before a divorce might be perceived as trying to hide it or as a way to exclude your spouse from financial considerations in the divorce.
Before you transfer any money, regardless of the amount, consult your divorce lawyers.
Even if you transfer money between you and your spouse after an agreement, as long as divorce is looming, don’t do it before talking to your attorney.
Don’t spend all of your money before a divorce.
In the same way, you shouldn’t transfer money across accounts, you also shouldn’t spend all of it before your divorce. As you can guess, when you spend all of your money before a divorce, it’s obvious that you are trying to deprive your spouse of a share of the money.
When you do this, the most likely outcome is the court penalizing you. In the event your spouse suspects you can do this to the other assets you own, they can apply for a freezing injunction, preventing you from dealing with any of your assets.
Don’t try to hide assets in trusts.
There are plenty of genuine and transparent trusts, and there is nothing wrong with having your money there, but if you put all of your money in a trust or several trusts just as you are going to divorce, it might raise suspicion.
Although the courts don’t have investigatory powers like the police, they ask plenty of questions, and if you give inadequate or deficient answers, it can lead to the court concluding that you are trying to hide money which might lead to you getting penalized.
If you have some money, you would love to put in the trusts, don’t go at it blindly as it might bring about plenty of severe consequences later on, so always consult your attorney before making a move.
Don’t work with a cheap lawyer.
Divorce attorneys are highly pivotal during divorce, so you should be cautious about the one you hire. Most people going through divorce have the impression that they can get the same service from an attorney they come across. How wrong are they?
A great way to tell how good an attorney is to check their fees. Most inexperienced family lawyers Fairfax VA charge lower fees, and as you can guess, they can’t give you sound legal advice.
You should find a moderately priced and highly experienced attorney that will advise you accordingly.
In the same way, you should avoid extremely cheap attorneys, you also should avoid costly ones as they might be trying to rip you off.
What is the best way to hide money in a divorce?
It’s possible to hide money and other assets, but you need to be highly strategic in how you go about it. The best way to hide the money is to start it as soon as you get married so that the asset or money remains in the same bank account or the asset remains with one owner without changing hands.
When there is no intermingling of the money, no transfers back and forth and no documentation, it’s hard for most people to find out about it or even think that you are hiding it.
