Even in a hotly contested divorce, few spouses would prefer to believe that their spouse is hiding assets from them in order to affect the aftermath of property division, or a spousal or child support ruling. Sadly, however, hiding of assets during divorce is a common occurrence among divorcing parties. Thus, it's crucial for divorcing spouses to be wary of the following potential red flags that a spouse may be potentially hiding assets.

Being cagey regarding financial matters

If you notice your spouse is suddenly secretive about monetary matters, chances are that they have something to conceal. Although it's common among spouses for one spouse to take a more prominent role in settling bills and handling the couple's economic affairs, each spouse ought to have access to all the pertinent accounts and financial details, and ought to stay updated on the state of their assets. This becomes quite vital when divorce is looming, given that it's much easier for a cunning spouse to hide assets from their spouse who is ill-informed or inattentive on financial matters. When your spouse restricts you from having a look at your marital finances or seems reluctant to share account information or passwords with you, there's a high possibility that they may be trying to conceal assets.

Constant grumbling about finances or debts

Some spouses try to conceal their assets during divorce by grumbling about unexpected economic hardships, like business difficulties or failed investments. To an unsuspecting spouse, this may give the impression that the grumbling person has fewer assets than they really have. Consequently, it's far easier for the cunning spouse to hide wealth without exposure.

A correlated strategy involves incurring strange debts so as to give the impression that they have fewer assets than they actually do. Overstating or exaggerating debts through this tactic may lead to a divorce settlement that's fraudulently slanted in favour of the spouse who is concealing assets.

Making unnecessary, expensive assets 

Another devious tactic employed by divorcing spouses is to buy expensive things like antiques or pieces of art, whose value is easy to think little of in a divorce settlement. Once the divorce is settled, these items are then sold and earnings retained by the spouse who initially bought them.

If you have doubts about your spouse concealing marital assets from you, seek help immediately from a family lawyer who is well-versed in detecting hidden assets in divorce settlements.