Can divorce lawyers find bank accounts?

Can divorce lawyers find bank accounts?

Finding hidden assets is difficult and requires the aid of other professionals, usually.  Finding other accounts is generally done through tracing; in other words, reviewing accounts that are known and seeing transfers made to other accounts that were previously unknown. Forensic accountants and private investigators are employed to help ascertain this information as well. 

Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons for divorce is finances. Financial stress can put a strain on the best marriages, and it’s a far worse case if one party is guilty of hiding money from his or her spouse.

Hiding money from a spouse can come in many forms, including fake payments or debts, salaries paid to phony employees, cash income, raises, investments, and many more places. Money that is in an unknown account isn’t accessible to be figured into your divorce settlement, meaning that your spouse will have it all to themselves when the divorce is finalized.

When clients suspect that their spouse has hidden money they often ask their personal attorney to verify its existence. A private account may have been set up during the marriage for the party’s private use, as a way for paying for an extramarital affair, or during the divorce in order to keep it out of divorce proceedings.

Finding secret bank accounts is possible, but it is not something that a divorce attorney will be able to do. You will need to enlist the help of a forensic accountant or a private investigator in order to find this information.

Divorce attorneys work with other professionals all the time for the benefit of their clients who can do this extensive investigating and may even be able to recommend a company or individual to search for hidden funds or bank accounts. Once the investigator or accountant has traced the account, a divorce attorney can use the paper trail in court if necessary.

Any information that you discover illegally won’t be permissible in court, so individuals should take the proper steps to find hidden bank accounts and obtain necessary documentation so that all evidence will be upheld in divorce court.