Why You Shouldn't Hide Assets in Divorce

 Posted on November 25, 2012 in Divorce

One of the legal requirements of all divorcing couples is that each spouse must openly and honestly disclose all assets, income, expenses, and debt. To many people's demise, they cannot fight the urge to try to lie or cheat in divorce proceedings to hold onto at least some of their assets. These issues are often talked about when divorce comes up, and this is no exception. Forbes reported a story on the phenomenon and issues around it. Usually, it is the husbands that are said to try and hide their assets in divorce. Whether it is the man or the woman, the bag of tricks used in these cases has grown over the years, although the poor success rate remains the same. Some of the tricks people try are on the following list: - Hiding, understating or undervaluing certain marital property for personal gain - Overstating debts - Lying about incomes, which usually means reporting lower than actual income - Lying about expenses, which, as to be expected, means exaggerating expenses People do these things to keep more to themselves and deny their spouse of a fair settlement. In addition to being unethical, this course of action is quite illegal. For some reason, people just can't help themselves, even though they know what might follow. Lying and breaking the law is not the way to ensure a divorce settlement that pleases you. You will be better off contacting an experienced divorce attorney when you are planning to file for divorce or when you are going through one. A dedicated attorney can help you maintain a fair share of your assets without breaking the law, so before you do anything stupid regarding your divorce proceedings, contact a knowledgeable Illinois divorce attorney.