You and your spouse are heading toward a divorce. You both agreed that it’s the right move. At the same time, though, it’s going to take months before the entire process has been completed.
During this time, you notice changes to your spouse’s pay. You find out that they’ve been putting off payments or turning them down.
For example, perhaps your spouse has a base salary of $50,000 a year, but they also earn commissions that generally add up to another $50,000. You see that your spouse has still been getting their paychecks like normal, but they’re not getting any commissions. Why is this happening?
Avoiding property division
This is one tactic that people sometimes use to try to hide assets so that they don’t have to go through property division.
It could be as simple as your spouse telling their boss that they don’t want to be paid their commission until the divorce is finalized. If they received the $50,000 in commissions today, they would have to split it with you during the divorce. But, if they put it off until the divorce has been finalized, then they believe they will keep the entire $50,000.
Similarly, your spouse could be turning down raises or promotions. Maybe they were supposed to get a bonus, but they asked their employer to hold onto the money and pay them the bonus at a later date. Anything they do to defer payment can potentially keep that money out of their accounts—and therefore out of property division.
All that being said, people need to be open and honest when making financial disclosures, and they’re not allowed to hide assets during a divorce. This could lead to a complicated situation where you and your spouse are in conflict regarding marital assets or what money should be split between the two of you, and you must understand your legal options.