When most couples get married, they are thinking about the personal and romantic significance of their commitment. They are much less concerned with the financial implications of marriage. However, when spouses enter into a marriage, they merge many of their assets and debts. Undoing this financial entanglement during divorce becomes especially complicated if spouses have a high income or own high-value assets. If you or your spouse have greater than average wealth, you should know about the ways that your wealth may influence your divorce case.

Complex Assets and Hard-To-Value Property

The division of marital property is often one of the most challenging aspects of divorce. Complex assets, hard-to-value assets, and assets with fluctuating value are often especially difficult to account for during divorce. Special attention must be paid to assets such as:

• Businesses and business investments
• Stocks and stock options
• Securities and investment accounts
• Deferred compensation and bonuses
• Overseas investments and tax shelters
• Real estate and investment properties
• Retirement accounts, 401(k) accounts, and pensions
• Bitcoin and other digital currency

Child Support Deviations

Typically, child support payments are determined by statutory formulas established by the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. The parents’ net incomes are added together to find their combined net income and then this information is compared to an “income shares schedule” to find their basic support obligation. The basic support obligation is the amount of money that both parents are expected to contribute to their child’s upbringing. The basic support obligation is divided between the parents based on their respective net incomes. The parent with less parenting time makes his or her contribution in the form of child support.

The tables and formulas used to calculate a parent’s child support obligation are based on statistics and averages. If your financial situation is not typical of the average Illinois family, calculating child support using the statutory formulas may be inappropriate. Instead, the court may deviate from the typical method of determining child support and instead make a determination based on your unique circumstances.

Hidden Assets and Financial Fraud

Financial transparency is a crucial element in any divorce case but it is especially vital in high-income divorce cases. Some spouses may attempt to manipulate their divorce settlement by hiding assets, undervaluing assets, transferring funds, or falsifying financial information. They may use businesses to conceal assets or even intentionally overpay the IRS to create the illusion of a lower net worth. If you suspect that your spouse will lie about finances during divorce, speak to a divorce lawyer right away. A skilled attorney with experience handling complex divorce cases can help you uncover hidden assets and get the divorce settlement you deserve.

Divorce is not only a romantic separation; it is also a financial separation. Determining how assets and debts should be distributed to divorcing spouses is often one of the most complicated parts of the divorce process. Division of assets is made even more problematic when a spouse is not willing to be transparent about his or her financial circumstances. Spouses may attempt to conceal assets, understate income, overstate debts, or use other strategies to gain an unfair advantage during property division. If you are planning to divorce and you have reason to believe that your spouse may be hiding assets or otherwise lying about financial resources, an experienced divorce lawyer can help.

Financial Deception During Divorce

In order for a divorcing couple to fairly divide marital assets during divorce, each spouse must be honest and forthcoming about his or her financial resources. However, some spouses purposely lie about their financial circumstances in an attempt to manipulate property division, child support, or spousal maintenance determinations. Typically, the more complicated a spouse’s financial circumstances are, the easier it is for him or her to hide assets during divorce. If a person owns multiple bank and brokerage accounts, trusts, rental properties, vacation homes, stock options, deferred compensation, retirement plans, a business or professional practice, or other complex assets, there are many opportunities for him or her to be deceptive. However, spouses with simple financial portfolios may also lie in order to gain a financial advantage during divorce.

A spouse who is attempting to sway the divorce settlement through hiding assets may fail to report assets or revenue streams, claim that certain assets were lost, or transfer assets to a third party. He or she may:

• Underreport income on tax returns
• Purchase expensive items and then undervalue or “forget” about these items
• Transfer stock to friends or business partners
• Transfer personal assets to a “dummy” company, or a company that exists only on paper
• Withdraw cash and hide it somewhere or “loan” cash to friends and family members
• Intentionally overpay the Internal Revenue Service so that money is hidden during divorce and then refunded after the divorce is finalized
• Postpone salary increases, new contracts, bonuses, or commissions until after the divorce

These are only some of the ways that a spouse may hide assets during divorce. Hiding assets is not only unethical, but it is also against the law. If a divorcing spouse is caught hiding assets, the court has the authority to assign a greater share of the marital assets to the innocent spouse. The spouse who hid assets may also face steep fines and other serious consequences.

Contact a St. Charles Hidden Assets Lawyer

If you believe that your spouse may lie about financial resources during divorce, you need an attorney who can help you uncover the truth. At Shaw Sanders, P.C., our experienced Illinois divorce attorneys collaborate with forensic accountants and other financial experts to expose financial deception and get clients the divorce settlement they deserve. To learn more about how we can help you, call our office at 630-584-5550 today and schedule a free, confidential consultation.

Typically, the greater number of high-value and complex assets a married couple has, the more complicated property division is during divorce. Property division may be an especially difficult process if the spouses do not agree on how property should be divided or are not willing to be honest and forthcoming about property and debt. A spouse who is planning to divorce may attempt to conceal income or hide assets in order to prevent these assets from being factored into the divorce settlement. If you are considering divorce and you have reason to suspect that your spouse may be hiding assets or lying about finances, an experienced divorce attorney can help you uncover the truth so that you can obtain a fair divorce settlement.

One Spouse Handles The Majority of the Financial Transactions

In many marriages, one spouse handles the finances while the other spouse manages other responsibilities. Although this division of labor works well for many married couples, it can also leave one spouse completely out of the loop when it comes to money issues. If you have traditionally allowed your spouse to pay the bills, file tax returns, and make major financial decisions without your input, this can leave you at a major disadvantage during divorce. It may be a good idea to investigate financial documents like tax returns and look for clues that reveal potential financial deception. For example, you may find that your spouse owns property that you are not aware of through an itemized deduction involving property taxes.

Unusual Behavior and Other Red Flags

A spouse may lie about finances in order to gain an unfair property division arrangement or pay less than his or her fair share of child support or spousal maintenance. He or she may overstate debts and expenses, hide or undervalue property, and report lower than actual income. However, falsifying financial data during divorce can be hard to do without leaving at least some clues behind. Red flags that may hint at financial deception include:

• Unusual bank activity such as frequent withdrawals or transfers
• Missing account statements and other financial documents
• Cash or property being gifted to friends and relatives
• Defensive and secretive behavior regarding finances
• Increased international travel
• Changes to computer and smartphone passwords
• Mail being rerouted to a different address

Contact a St. Charles Divorce Lawyer

Uncovering financial fraud during divorce can be especially difficult if a spouse has not been kept up-to-date about finances during the marriage or if a couple owns complex or high-value assets. If you have reason to believe that your spouse may attempt to gain an unfair advantage during divorce proceedings through financial deception, contact Shaw Sanders, P.C.. Our knowledgeable Kane County divorce attorneys collaborate with experienced forensic accountants and other financial experts in order to help spouses obtain a divorce settlement that is based on the truth. Schedule a free, confidential consultation by calling us at 630-584-5550 today.

The two areas that cause the most deliberation in divorce cases is child custody arrangements and the division of assets. Going through your finances and properties can cause ugly sides to come out of divorcing couples. Some will claim that certain assets are theirs alone while others will complain that they are not receiving enough in the division process. In Illinois, all marital assets are eligible for equal distribution between both spouses. This can seem unfair to the spouse that is the primary breadwinner of the house or can cause panic for the spouse that relies on these assets to get by after the divorce. These mix of emotions can cause spouses to make illegal attempts to conceal assets.

Common Hiding Places

Hiding assets is not typically done by putting wads of cash in the cookie jar. There are various common tactics used that can attempt to avoid a paper trail of evidence:

• Watch Your Bank Accounts: The first place to start your search is your personal and shared bank accounts. Monitoring purchases and monetary movement may give initial proof to your suspicion.
• Unreported Income: If your former spouse is involved in any form of cash enterprise, they may be pocketing funds without notifying the government for tax purposes. While this can be difficult to prove without professional help, comparing your spending habits to your spouse’s and looking back on your financial situation throughout your marriage can be a start.
• Debt Payments: Some people will spontaneously owe their friends “debts” then have the friend return the money after the divorce is finalized. This will allow them to set money aside and avoid dividing it with you.
• Shady Business: If your spouse has their own business, they could be using this to their advantage. Sometimes they will wait to charge clients for services until after the divorce. In other cases, they will pay an “employee” who does not actually exist and file the money into an account that they can access after the divorce.

Seek Professional Help in St. Charles, IL

Locating hidden assets can be extremely difficult for someone who does not have experience doing so. While these may be common places to hide money, there are many others that should be looked at to ensure that you receive your equal share of finances. At Shaw Sanders, P.C., we work with an experienced forensic accountant and other financial experts to analyze all possible areas of hidden assets. If you suspect that your spouse could be hiding assets from you, contact our Kane County divorce attorneys at 630-584-5550 for a free consultation.

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One of the most technically difficult parts of a divorce can be the dividing of the marital property. Before the work of dividing the assets can even be started, the assets must receive a valuation.

How Marital Property Is Divided

Illinois considers all property, with a few exceptions, acquired after the date of the marriage to be marital property. Unless the two sides come to an agreement on their own, a judge is required by law to divide the property equitably. This means studying all the relevant factors and dividing the property fairly. This does not necessarily mean the property is divided equally.

How Much of the Value of an Asset Is Marital Property?

Some assets, such as a business or retirement account, may have been acquired before the marriage. However, most likely any increase in value to these assets after the date of the marriage may be considered marital property.