Is Your Spouse Hiding Community Business Assets? – The Reape-Rickett Law Firm

One often wonders once a Petition for Dissolution has been filed, or perhaps before it is filed, “Is my spouse hiding something?” It is all too common during the pendency of divorce for one spouse to believe the other is undervaluing or hiding assets to avoid their disclosure or reveal its true value at the time of settlement. Such cases usually require the use of a forensic accountant to investigate the parties’ finances and find the answers to the foregoing questions. The forensic accountant, when hired for these purposes, can track changes in spending habits of the parties prior to the date of separation and trace the parties’ financial habits, break in those habits, as well as determine cash flow.
For instance, the accountant may want to determine whether the managing spouse of a community business is removing business assets. The following is a list of common questions a forensic accountant may ask regarding a community business:
Who are its customers?
Has the level of business from these customers been stable?
Have major clients been leaving the company for a single competitor or a new company?
Have there been changes from year-to-year balance sheets? And in main areas?
If you are the non-managing spouse and believe your spouse is hiding, removing, and/or undervaluing assets, it is important you gain full knowledge of all the community assets, liabilities, income, and expenses whether or not the Petition has already been filed. Thus, it is important you have access to tax returns, bank, investment, retirement, and other account records, which can often be located online. If you are already in the middle of a dissolution and you find something out of place of an account that was not disclosed, it may be time to contact a forensic accountant to assist you and/or your attorney to investigate your finances.
If you are contemplating or going through a divorce and have concerns that assets may be hidden, call The Reape-Rickett Law Firm at (888) 846-6166 or visit DivorceDigest.com to speak with an experienced family law attorney to protect your rights and interests.