3 Money signs that indicate your spouse may be planning for a divorce

Some call it "divorce planning" and some call it fraud, we call it following the money. Regardless of what you call it, here are 3 red flags to look for that indicate that your spouse is preparing to leave you out in the cold.

1) Sudden Reduction in Earnings
If one  spouse is planning their exit strategy, one move they might make is to drastically understate their earnings in the time leading up to the initial divorce proceedings. The purpose behind this is to trick the courts into ordering more favorable (to the fraudster) alimony and child support payments. If the spouse is an employee and they are suddenly taking home less  then they ever have, it could be that they may have arranged for their boss to pay them in some other way outside of their normal paycheck (are they close with their boss?), defer payments and bonuses until after the divorce, or they could suddenly stop working overtime. If they are employed by a business that handles a lot of cash, they may be getting paid in cash and under the table. If the plotting spouse owns a business, this is far trickier to catch because any number of tactics can be employed. They can hide earnings in shell companies, pay large sums to contractors,  family members, friends, or employees with the agreement to collect the overpayments after the divorce. They can "sell" their business or part of it for way under market value with the intention of purchasing it back after the divorce. They can manipulate sales to appear that the business is suddenly tanking, and the list goes on.  Sudden reduction in earnings tops our list for most common schemes that indicate divorce planning is underway.

​2) 2 on the list is moving assets. The plotter may start trying to dump assets by transferring them to third parties or shell companies. For example let's say out of nowhere your spouse convinces you that he's just not interested in his prized classic car collection anymore. He doesn't have the time to maintain them and he just wants them to go to a good home where they will be well cared for. He then proceeds to "sell" them to car club buddies and family members for way less then they are worth, and donate them to Non-profits. You think it's weird that hubby suddenly has a heart for charity but you brush it off as him having a come to Jesus moment... Only a year after your divorce, he comes to pick up little Billy in the same car he supposedly donated to the non profit prior to the divorce. Turns out the non profit had an auction, ex hubby was the only one to attend because all his car buddies are on the board, and he got his prized classic back using the money leftover from the sale of his classic chevy that he sold to Uncle Phil for $3,500 who then turned around and sold it on behalf of  ex hubby -for what it was really worth- which was around $35,000. And you of course got nothing out of any of these even though you were tortured with car shows all weekend every weekend and paid to have some restored for his 40th bday. Yikes! Moving assets is a giant screaming flag. 

3) Lifestyle changes. This category is broad and can incorporate many behaviors and activities. For the most part people do not get divorced out of nowhere. A reason for many divorces is adultery. There are many red flags associated with cheating that are out of the scope of this blog post, however, there are some financial red flags to look for in regards to adultery and lifestyle changes that can signal a departure from the marriage. Is the spouse in question suddenly spending large amounts of money on their appearance? New clothes, boob job, hair and nails done up for the first time ever, gym memberships, etc.
Is the spouse suddenly making cash purchases instead of using their card? Could it be because they did not want you to see the dinner for 2 at the Melting Pot that wasn't with you? Is the spouse suddenly spending more time out of the country in places that have banking practices conducive to hiding money in offshore accounts?

In conclusion, there are many red flags that point to fraud in divorce, but the ones that we have outlined above seem to hold prevalence. The sooner you become aware of the schemes, the better the outcome for you. It hurts my heart every time I hear someone say that they got bamboozled in their divorce negotiations because they just didn't see it coming even though the signs were all there for years...
Call us if you need us, we are always ready to help.  
Lux in Tenebris

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