Divorce will almost always be an emotional and stressful legal process. In addition to rescinding your relationship with someone you once loved, there are also assets involved that you’ll need to divide between you and your spouse.
This distribution of wealth will have a lasting effect on your financial situation after your marriage. It’s not common for a spouse to decide to conceal assets during the divorce, but it’s always best to avoid doing this, as it can have serious repercussions. Here’s how it could hurt your divorce case and your finances in the long term:
Understanding Equitable Distribution
Before all else, it’s important to understand the principle that encompasses every divorce proceeding. If the parties involved in the divorce are unable to come to an agreement on how their assets are to be distributed, discretion is given to the court.
The first thing to understand about equitable distribution is that what the court deems fair isn’t necessarily always equal. Equitable distribution is predicated on the spirit that both parties should be left financially capable.
Why Do People Hide Their Assets?
It’s normal to want to retain full ownership over an asset, especially when the asset is valuable. The last thing that an owner wants is for a closely guarded asset to be given by the court to the opposing party. In an attempt to prevent this, people tend to hide assets to keep them from being part of the assets to be distributed by the court. It’s for this reason that people involved in a divorce hire private investigators to search for any hidden assets.
What Are the Consequences of Concealing Assets?
Both parties are required to disclose their financial information under oath. This means that when a spouse conceals information regarding their assets, that spouse is committing an act of perjury. Perjury is punishable by jail time (up to a year in county jail, and up to four years in state prison).
Moreover, committing an act of perjury will also hurt that spouse’s credibility, and all succeeding claims from that person will be perceived as unreliable and untrue by the court. making it easy for the opposing lawyer to challenge that individual’s testimony and statements.
I Know Someone Who Got Away With It
While there are indeed instances when people actually get away with the concealment of their assets, there’s always a chance that this act of perjury becomes discovered. Upon discovery, the case may be reopened, and the assets will once again be distributed, only this time, the court will very likely award the discovered asset to the party that discovered it.
The only way that you can avoid the trouble of having the court distribute your assets for you is to come to an agreement on the distribution of your marital property. Your best chance of achieving an amicable divorce is by hiring seasoned family lawyers like Harrison White, P.C. to help mediate between you and your spouse.