If you are in the difficult position of going through a divorce, you will need to split your assets as part of the process. This is crucial as your former spouse could make a financial claim against you in the future if you do not have a final order in place.
The first step is for both you and your spouse to disclose all of your assets to each other. Your solicitor can then try and negotiate a settlement on your behalf or, if this is not possible, you can attend mediation or ask the court to make a financial order.
What Financial Disclosure Do I Have to Provide in a Divorce?
You must make full and frank disclosure of your financial position. This is generally done by both parties completing Form E – Financial statement for a financial order.
The form is in-depth and requires that you provide details of your income and expenditure, of all of your assets and liabilities, including business interests and pensions, and information about your needs and those of any children.
If financial changes occur before a final order is made, you should also be notified of these.
How Can Assets be Hidden
There are a range of ways in which someone may try to hide assets from you, including:
- Liquidating assets, such as selling property or business interest, then giving the money to a third party to hold while the divorce is dealt with
- Taking money out of a pension and moving it elsewhere
- Putting money overseas or offshore
- Taking money out of accounts, including joint accounts, and putting it where they don’t believe it will be found, such as in a new account or cryptocurrency
- Trying to put money out of reach in a trust fund
What Can I Do If My Partner Has Hidden Assets?
If you believe that your spouse has not fully disclosed all of their assets, you should tell your solicitor. They will be able to ask the court to intervene where necessary. Options include:
- A Non-Party Disclosure Order – this gives your solicitor the authority to request information from banks and other organisations, such as HM Revenue & Customs, employers and accountants and from a new partner
- A Freezing Order – freezing accounts or other assets so that your spouse is prevented from moving and hiding money and other assets such as shares or property
- An Avoidance of Disposition Order – where assets have already been sold or moved, this type of order can undo actions taken to try to dispose of assets
- A Search Order – also referred to as an Anton Pillar order, is occasionally used if there is a risk that a spouse will destroy financial documents to hide evidence of their assets
Where evidence can be provided of the dissipation of assets, for example, your spouse has spent, moved or hidden money, the court can be asked to take this into account and add back the sum in question to the pot of matrimonial assets. It will then become part of your spouse’s share of the assets.
The Implications of Hiding Assets
If your spouse hides assets, fails to properly complete form E or is deliberately dishonest, the court can deal appropriately with this.
Firstly, the party at fault is likely to be penalised when it comes to costs and may have to pay the legal fees of both sides. They could also receive a lower award.
The court can assume that they have any missing money and take this into account when making an order.
The court also has the authority to set aside a financial order in the future. Again, the party at fault is likely to have to pay the costs of this and the rehearing of the case.
In the most extreme cases, the court has the power to send someone to prison.
Case Law Dealing with Dishonesty and Hidden Assets
In the recent case of EK v DK [2023], a husband intentionally withheld crucial information about his finances. He said he had no liquid assets and did not know when he would be able to buy himself a home. In fact, by the time the court made its order, he had started the process of a property purchase, from which he stood to make a profit of £3.5m – £6.5m.
The judge ordered that as the husband had been dishonest, the consent order would be set aside.
In the 2013 case of Young v Young, a property dealer, Scot Young, claimed that he had lost all of his assets, and he failed to comply with an order to pay his wife and two children £27,500 per month. He hid £45 million in offshore trusts and misled the court throughout the proceedings. He was imprisoned for six months. The judge allowed £5 million for him to pay debts he claimed to have and awarded his wife £20 million, half of the remainder.
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Contact Our Divorce and Finance Solicitors
If you are going through the breakdown of a relationship and you need robust representation to secure a fair financial award to provide you with the security you need for the future, call our team today. Where you suspect that your spouse may be hiding assets, we will take decisive action to address this.To speak to one of our expert divorce and finance solicitors, email us at info@witansolicitors.co.uk or fill in our contact form and we will talk through your situation.
