Divorce includes unraveling two lives that have been intertwined and developed together, maybe for a long time. Distributing marital assets and liabilities is a step in the process of re-establishing your two lives as independent entities. You and your husband can determine how to divide your assets in Utah by mutual agreement, or you can provide the divorce court with evidence so that it can make that determination. It is assumed in both of these situations that you and your spouse have openly revealed all of your assets and debts to one another. But what if your divorced partner conceals assets?

Finding out or thinking that your spouse has hidden assets will affect how you respond to that inquiry. There are procedures you and your Salt Lake City divorce attorney may do to ensure that all financial data is disclosed if your divorce is not yet complete.

If You Think Your Ex-Husband or Ex-Wife Is Hiding Assets During Your Divorce

Divorcing spouses in Utah must execute financial declarations or Initial Disclosures paperwork. These agreements essentially lay the groundwork for deciding on alimony and child support in addition to the property split. Couples should be open and honest with one another, not just for fairness but also to avoid the costs of going to court to uncover concealed financial information.

Of course, just because someone is expected to be honest does not mean they always are. Inform your lawyer as soon as possible if you have any reason to believe that your spouse is not truthful about their assets.

If your Spouse’s Hidden Assets Become Apparent to you After your Divorce

Unfortunately, particularly if they are careful to disguise their tracks, you might not always be aware that your spouse is hiding assets throughout the divorce. But occasionally, individuals get irresponsible after the official divorce, and the court has signed the divorce decree. If that happens, if your ex-spouse begins posting on Facebook about their riches after your divorce despite their claims to the contrary, you might wish to try to have your divorce case reopened.

A word of caution: In Utah, it is challenging to vacate a decision and reopen a closed court matter. On the grounds of “fraud, deception, or other wrongdoing of the other party,” it could nevertheless be possible. To put it another way, you could be able to get the judgment overturned and receive a different property split if your ex-spouse misled about their assets during the discovery process, during the trial, or on their disclosure forms.