Rhode Island residents like you already have a lot on your plate when facing divorce. On top of the usual issues, people with high assets often struggle with extra problems, too. For example, couples with higher assets are more likely to have one person attempt to hide assets.
But attempting to hide assets can result in some big problems for the spouse hiding them. What are the penalties they may face? How can hiding assets impact their future?
How do people hide assets?
Forbes discusses the potential consequences that a person may face for attempting to hide assets during divorce. They also discuss the tactics someone may use in an attempt to hide assets. After all, hiding assets does not only involve tucking cash away in a box. It can also include:
- Reporting higher expenses
- Reporting lower incomes
- Overstating debt
- Understating, hiding or undervaluing marital property
What are the legal consequences?
Employing these tactics is just as bad as hiding money and you can get in trouble for it if caught. Because every contested divorce requires you to sign a financial affidavit, lying about assets is a big deal. By breaking the affidavit, you commit perjury and the court can hold you in contempt.
Convictions of perjury come with the possibility of incarceration. The judge overseeing your case can also mete out individual penalties that differ from situation to situation. For example, one judge may order the spouse hiding assets to pay for their spouse’s legal fees. A judge may order said spouse to turn all of the assets they attempted to hide to the other spouse, too. In the end, attempting to hide assets is simply not worth it.
