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How do people hide assets?

On Behalf of | Aug 26, 2022 | Divorce |

For as long as people have gotten divorces, they have also been hiding assets. But what exactly does asset hiding mean?

It is important to understand how it happens and the common ways people pull this off in order to better understand where to look for hidden assets.

Transferring assets

Forbes talks about asset hiding during divorce. Asset hiding involves a person taking some portion of their assets, whether that is property, income or more, and hiding them away from their spouse during divorce. They do not want to split this portion of their assets with their spouse and will take numerous steps to ensure this.

For one, a classic tactic involves transferring the assets in one form to another. This typically involves using money to buy high priced items like cars or electronics with the intent of selling them after the divorce finalizes.

Uses of digital wallets

Related to that, a more recent tactic involves using digital wallets in the same way. Instead of buying cars or material goods, people instead buy cryptocurrency. They generally believe this a safe method because fewer people know about digital wallets, though that is changing in the modern climate.

If a spouse owns a business, they might try to invent false employees to pay. They then take the paychecks for these fake workers and keep that money to themselves.

Paying back false debts

Finally, a spouse could pretend to pay back a debt owed, but in reality the person they gave the money to intends to hang onto it for a period of time.

Any of these methods are illegal, because asset hiding is not legally viable. Thus, someone who suspects their spouse of committing this act could take steps to gain compensation.

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