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Hiding Divorce Assets in a High-Tech Age

Some divorces in Minnesota and nationally are prominently marked by civility and transparency.

Others, well, aren’t.

And as concerns the latter, a core contention that leads to strife and acrimony often centers on assets.

Specifically, assets that fairly and lawfully need to be identified, accurately valued, categorized as marital property, and equitably divided between divorcing spouses.

For reasons that likely don’t surprise many of our readers, such an accounting and ultimate rendering is not always easily achieved.

Indeed, it can sometimes seem like pulling teeth, given that some spouses will do all they can to hide wealth from a soon-to-be ex-partner and keep it safely secreted. Greed, animosity, a base desire to come out on top in the divorce process — these and myriad other motivations can underlie such behavior and undermine a fair outcome concerning property distribution in a marital dissolution.

Seasoned family law attorneys who routinely represent divorce clients with asset-distribution concerns — especially individuals involved in a dissolution marked by outsized wealth — know from experience that a strong spotlight will likely need to be placed on asset-related matters.

To wit: What assets in a marriage can reasonably be deemed marital property? Where are those assets, and in what form do they consist (e.g., investment accounts, artwork, family heirlooms, real estate holdings)? What is their value? How can they be equitably distributed?

A proven high-asset divorce attorney will keep a solid focus on those very important questions and related issues.

And, moreover, experienced attorneys know that the investigatory work they do on behalf of a client must increasingly take note of progressively sophisticated tools and methods that some uncooperative spouses are availing themselves of these days to hide wealth.

We will take a closer look at that in our next blog post.

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