Dividing property in a divorce means that you and your spouse need to be honest with one another. When you are concerned that your spouse is hiding assets during the divorce you need a plan to figure out what is happening. Not trusting your spouse completely is not uncommon in a divorce. The two of you are not on the best of terms. However, it is another situation altogether when you think he or she is hiding assets. This cuts to the core of your divorce and requires a plan to counteract the bad behavior of your spouse.
Finding trust in your spouse is not going to be easy. The two of you are heading towards a divorce because somewhere along the line your trust with one another has been broken. Restoring that trust at this stage is likely not an option. So where do you turn? What can you do to make it so your divorce can proceed smoothly? The reality of your situation is a smooth divorce may not be possible. However- that does not mean that you won’t be able to accomplish anything of significance in the divorce,
In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we will discuss how to identify certain behaviors that may indicate your spouse is hiding assets. Dishonesty in this regard can impact your family life and your finances. Learn more about how to protect yourself in today’s blog post.
What does it mean to divide property in a Texas divorce?
Marital property division in Texas is unique. Our laws surrounding marital property division relate to the principle of community property. This theory of marital property division holds that, while married, the property is presumed to be owned by you and your spouse equally. Property or income earned is as much yours as your spouse’s- as long as it was earned during the marriage. A spouse does not need to earn income through work for that rule to apply. This application of community property laws differentiates Texas from most other states in the United States.
Texas family courts divide property in a just and right manner in the divorce. That means that the court takes into consideration all the different scenarios and factors in your life. Then, property is divided in a way that is commensurate with those circumstances. Please note that “just and right” is not a synonym for “equal.” Yes, your community property may be divided in an equal fashion. However, that only happens when the circumstances merit an equal division of property.
Separate property exists in Texas, as well. Separate property is any property owned by you or your spouse before your marriage. Additionally, property acquired during your marriage by gift or inheritance also counts as being separately owned. Separate property cannot be divided by a family court. Now that we have covered what separate property is we can discuss how you can begin to protect your property and achieve a fair outcome in your divorce.
Most divorces see property divided by agreement of the spouses
Based on the aforementioned information you may be under the impression that a judge always makes the final decision in a divorce. That is not true, however. For most divorce cases it is the spouses who tend to make the agreements. It is only when you and your spouse cannot come to an agreement on your own that you must bring in the judge to help you sort things out more clearly.
So, what does it take for you and your spouse to work together towards a settlement in your case? In one word: transparency. For the moment, let’s set aside issues related to children. For now, we are only talking about property division and how that impacts your divorce. So much of property division relies upon you and your spouse working together to negotiate. A key part to the negotiation process is being able to agree with your spouse on the subject matter. If you two can’t even agree on what is part of the community estate then negotiations will be more difficult.
Attending mediation is a key part to settlement negotiations. Mediation involves you and your spouse agreeing to name a third party mediator to help facilitate discussions. Typically you will meet at the mediator’s office to go over settlement proposals. Each of you should be prepared to discuss specifics. Having a general idea about what you want to accomplish is not good enough. An experienced family law attorney can help you develop a fine tuned plan which can be used to accomplish your goals.
What is a mediated settlement agreement?
A successful mediation session results in a mediated settlement agreement. This is a document which is produced by the mediator and contains all of the settlement terms you were able to reach. Mediated Settlement Agreements can be lengthy or quite short depending upon how much you were able to settle in mediation. At the conclusion of mediation you and your spouse will need to review the language and sign the agreement if it fairly summarizes the settlement(s) you reached.
Whatever is not settled in mediation will be the subject of a hearing or trial. One of the great parts of mediation is that it is always set immediately before a temporary orders hearing or trial. The fact that there is a deadline which fast approaches each mediation session encourages spouses to try hard to settle their case. The alternative is having a judge make a decision for each of you in the courtroom.
Preparing for mediation is critically important. The better prepared you are the better your results will be. Do not expect to go into mediation with zero preparation and expect to come out with anything beneficial.
Have questions about how to prepare for your divorce or mediation specifically? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today. We offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week. These consultations are a great opportunity to learn more about the world of Texas divorce law in a comfortable environment.
How the discovery process impact your ability to negotiate
Discovery is a process whereby you and your spouse submit requests and questions to the other person. These questions are used to ascertain information about your cases. This serves several purposes. First, it allows you to learn more about the case your spouse will be presenting. Do you have an idea about how your spouse plans on arguing subjects related to community property? If not, then Discovery is a great place to learn. Working with an experienced family law attorney can help ensure you ask questions geared toward providing you with key insights.
What discovery also allows for is a greater insight into your mutual disagreements. It is inevitable that you and your spouse will not agree on every aspect of your divorce. This is true not only as it has to do with your case as a whole but regarding the specific issues in your case. Why does your spouse think that the boat is his separate property? Ask him in discovery. He may have no basis for that opinion. Or, he may have a very good reason for believing that the property is his separate asset.
Using discovery as a tool to succeed in your divorce is a good move especially if your spouse is not very communicative. At the extreme end of this is a propensity to try and hide assets. It becomes more difficult for your spouse to do so once you submit discovery responses. He can object to your questions. However, failing to answer a question is not allowed. Talk to an experienced family law attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan about this.
Why the responses of your spouse matter when it comes to discovery
Discovery should not be approached as an exercise involving you throwing out any question that comes to mind. Rather, you need to tailor your questions based on a few different criteria. First, what is the question designed to find out from your spouse? Make sure that your questions have a logical end. If not, then consider revising the question. The more off-base or general the question the more likely there is to be an objection available.
On that point, be aware that there are opportunities to object to the questions that you ask. Objecting to a question is fair depending on the question that was asked. For example, you can reach out and talk with an attorney who practices family law to determine whether a question is likely to result in an objection from the other side. Overbroad questions that amount to nothing more than a “fishing” expedition are commonly objected to.
Think about these responses as one more tool in your toolbox. You are trying to build a house throughout the course of your divorce. By utilizing every tool available to you it is more likely that you will accomplish whatever goals you have set out for yourself. Given how divorce tends to be a challenging situation from the standpoint of your finances, you can use every advantage available. To that point, let’s discuss what it means when your spouse hides assets during a divorce.
Temporary orders and hiding assets at the beginning of your divorce
The temporary orders phase of your divorce occurs at the beginning. Temporary orders allow you and your spouse to establish ground rules for your case. These ground rules can be used to help the two of you function more effectively. Common temporary orders include determining which of you will have access to the family home during the divorce. Another type of temporary order relates to child custody. In short, temporary orders increase peace and set boundaries.
Temporary orders can also relate to the division of marital property. The final decisions on how your marital property is divided come at the end of a divorce. Until then, your temporary orders are likely to state that you cannot make major changes to your property during the divorce. This means selling your property, paying off debt, or doing anything else substantial with the property would be off-limits. Instead, your divorce is to be spent with you paying close attention to your case.
As you are trying to negotiate a division of your marital property? Laying the groundwork for this type of conversation can start at the beginning of your case. It is also an important time for you to pay attention to the details. Is your spouse behaving strangely? Unfortunately, once the two of you no longer live together it becomes more difficult to identify particularly out of character behavior trends. However, here are a few behaviors which may indicate that your spouse is hiding assets.
Look at your bank account
Do you and your spouse share a bank account? If so, then if you have less money in your account than you previously did this may mean that your spouse is attempting to withdraw money in anticipation of a divorce. It is not uncommon for someone to withdraw money fromo a checking account, for example. However, it is strange to continuously withdraw large sums of money for no apparent reason. Pay attention to the frequency and amount of each withdrawal.
Income earned during the course of your marriage is community property. This means that the property is owned by you and your spouse equally. It does not matter if your spouse has worked for the money but you haven’t. The State of Texas treats you both equally as far as which of you earned the money. Do not expect that just because you earned money that it is going to be yours. Your job is your spouse’s job and vice versa. This means you need to keep an eye out for how your money is being spent in the divorce.
Down the line you may need to ask the court for your community estate to be reimbursed money that was spent improperly. Hiding assets is one thing. However, using that money for something that is wasteful is an equally bad behavior. For example- if you suspect that your spouse is involved in a side relationship now is the time to make that determination. Protecting yourself with the help of an experienced family law attorney is certainly possible.
Look at your spouse’s discovery responses
When it comes time to receive your spouse’s discovery responses you should consider his or her responses. You most likely have a good idea of what your spouse’s wages are. In other words- you know how much he earns even if you do not know exactly how much he earns. If your spouse dramatically undercounts his income in discovery responses this may be a sign that he is trying to hide assets from you. Needless to say this is something that you should beware of as far as protecting yourself and your family.
Hiding assets can not only set you back in you property allocation but also with child support. Child support is paid by one parent to another. It is based off of the net monthly income of your co-parent. As such, if your co-parent is hiding income and assets then it is likely that your child support will be based on an incorrect amount of income. Protecting your child support comes as much from preventing your spouse from hiding income and assets as anything else.
When your spouse is hiding something there are tell-tale signs. The more connected you are the events of your household the more easily you can determine if your spouse is hiding assets. On the other hand, if you are not aware of most of the ongoing issues in your home it is important to have help watching out for what happens in your home. An attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan can help you to do so.
Final thoughts on behaviors which indicate your spouse is hiding assets
Transparency is key in a divorce. If you cannot trust your spouse is being honest with you then negotiation becomes next to impossible. This does not mean that you and your spouse must agree on every element of your case. It does mean that you must be willing to engage with one another. If for no other reason than agreeing on the starting point in a negotiation is the key to concluding your case amicably.
Finding yourself in a position where your spouse is hiding assets is intimidating. You may understand that he or she is doing this- but what can you do about it? Reaching out to an experienced attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan is a great place to start. Our attorneys provide interesting and informative blogs here on our website seven days a week.
Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan offer free of charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas family law. Before signing a document or negotiating on a subject you do not know well, contact our office. We look forward to the opportunity of serving you during an important part of your life. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan is on your side.
Evan Hochschild was raised in Houston, TX and graduated from Cypress Creek High School. He went on to graduate from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX with an undergraduate degree in Political Science. While in college, Evan was a four-year letterman on the Cross Country team.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncle before him, Evan attended law school after he completed in his undergraduate studies. He graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law and has practiced in a variety of areas in the law- including family law.
Mr. Hochschild is guided by principles which place the interests of clients first. Additionally, Evan seeks to provide information and support for his clients with the heart of a teacher.
Evan and his wife have four small children together. He enjoys afternoons out and about with his family, teaching Sunday school at his church and exercising. A veteran attorney of fourteen years, Mr. Hochschild excels in communicating complex ideas in family law simply and directly.
