During your divorce, you and your ex will disclose all of your property to one another. You also have to provide information about your assets to the courts if you can’t reach your own property settlement. A judge will use the information that you provide to determine the right way to split up your property.
Having your own copies of financial records and reviewing the disclosures made by your ex are both important steps in Virginia divorces. That way, you can potentially spot warning signs for hidden assets. Why are hidden assets such a major concern in Virginia divorces?
You can’t split property fairly when you don’t know what you have
The simplest explanation for why hidden assets negatively impact divorces is that it undermines the fairness of the outcome. Each spouse should receive a fair or equitable portion of the couple’s property.
If you don’t know what you really share or what your ex earned, how can you receive what you should? If one spouse routinely hid assets or income from the other or fails to disclose certain assets to the courts, that could mean eliminating tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property that should be part of the marital estate.
If you do spot signs of hidden assets, tracking down as much as you can allows you to provide the courts with a more accurate estimate of your household finances, which can then lead to a fair and appropriate division of that property. Scrutinizing the paperwork and advocating for yourself are often necessary during the asset division process in divorce.