When you get a divorce, it can be hard to know how to divide your property. It can be even more difficult if there is property that you don’t know exists. Some kinds of property, like digital assets, can be harder to identify. For example, your spouse may have been investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies that you’re not aware of.
Part of the divorce process is working out where all your assets are. You and your spouse will be expected to report your assets. You need to disclose everything you possess (within reason, of course). To do this, you may want to work with a forensic accountant, especially if you have many assets online that you may have forgotten about.
You can have a forensic accountant work with you to find hidden assets, too. A forensic accountant can go over your financial documents and determine if there is a chance that hidden assets do exist. If they do, then they can help you find them. If they don’t, they can tell you, so you have the best opportunity to divide the assets you’ve found equally.
Where are assets usually hidden?
Assets may be hidden anywhere, but they could be hidden by:
- Claiming that they were lost
- Claiming they were previously sold
- Giving them to another person for safekeeping
- Claiming that the item or asset doesn’t exist
A forensic accountant is trained to look for a paper trail and to find those assets. Looking at past tax returns, financial statements and other documents may help show where assets have gone, so you can get your share.