Should you hide money during a divorce?

Money is always a central topic when it comes to divorce in New Jersey and elsewhere, and it is very important for those who are going through a divorce to know all about their rights and options when it comes to what they can do with their money. They also need to know what things are considered to be legal and what are not so that they do not accidentally break the law in their efforts to keep what they feel is theirs.

This was recently brought to light when a woman asked a very interesting question. She believed that her husband had taken some money and hidden it away so that she couldn’t get to it. As they were about to go through a divorce, she wanted to take other money from a checking account that they shared and hide it from him. She wanted to know what she needed to do to accomplish this.

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An attorney who answered her indicated that doing so could create a lot of problems. For one thing, it was pointed out that paperwork will be filed during a divorce asking for information regarding any assets that both parties hold. All information about “hidden” money would have to legally be opened up at that point.

On top of that, it was noted that people in these cases have to make a statement to the court saying that all of the information that they are providing is true. If it turned out that they lied when they did this, they could face perjury charges. These are criminal charges, so it is far better to be open and honest, rather than attempting to hide money while going through a divorce.

Source: NJ.com, “Your Money: With divorce coming, how can I hide cash from my spouse?” Karin Price Mueller, Jun. 04, 2014