No one walks down the aisle thinking about the exit, but divorce still finds its way to about one in three Americans who\u2019ve ever been married, according to Pew Research.<\/p>\n
And when it does, it can upend every corner of your life \u2014 from where you live to how you parent to what\u2019s left in your bank account. (1)<\/p>\n
Even in the most civil separations, dividing finances can get messy. But when a soon-to-be ex starts getting creative with the numbers, heartbreak can quickly turn into financial blindsiding.<\/p>\n
Family law attorney Emily Rubenstein says most people imagine \u201chiding money\u201d as something dramatic, like stashing large sums offshore or tucking them into a secret account. But, as she told The Washington Post, that kind of move is\u201cpretty easy to see in banking documents.\u201d (2)<\/p>\n
Rubenstein recalls one case where a client\u2019s spouse had been withdrawing small amounts of cash from an ATM every week for three years. The pattern looked harmless \u2014 even routine \u2014 until the total reached more than $100,000 that couldn\u2019t be accounted for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen all these games many times,\u201d Rubenstein said.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re not quite at the stage of filing but something feels off, there are signs worth watching for before you\u2019re served and blindsided.<\/p>\n
When it comes to divorce, it\u2019s not always about the money \u2014 sometimes it\u2019s about the stuff.<\/p>\n
From lawn mowers to luxury handbags, household assets meant to be divided can go missing long before the paperwork is filed.<\/p>\n
Hanna Morell, an Oregon-based financial coach, noticed something strange when she couldn\u2019t find her family\u2019s lawn mower while cataloging items for her lawyer. The mystery deepened until she discovered her husband had rented part of a storage unit from a friend.<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t alone in her suspicions. A recent study found that more than 40% of married or cohabitating U.S. adults have kept a financial secret from their partner. (3) That tracks closely with a 2021 National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) survey showing 43% have engaged in some form of financial deception. (4)<\/p>\n
Morell decided to get proactive by snapping photos of valuables around the house she suspected might go missing. When they did, she confronted her husband, who claimed he had \u201cno idea\u201d where they\u2019d gone. But during the divorce proceedings, those photos became evidence.<\/p>\n
Story Continues <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he realized that he wasn\u2019t going to get away with that, he ended up finding those items, and they were returned,\u201d Morrell\u2019s client said.<\/p>\n
Financial coach Christine Luken of Kentucky recalls a similar case. One of her clients, married for 17 years, noticed odd spending after a judge ordered the couple\u2019s financial arrangements to remain unchanged until the divorce was finalized. Among the transactions: payments for a \u201ccarpet stretching service\u201d from a friend\u2019s company and checks made out to the husband\u2019s mother and sister-in-law for supposed babysitting and cleaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was probably having that funnel right back to him,\u201d Luken\u2019s client said.<\/p>\n
Read more: Robert Kiyosaki warns of a ‘Greater Depression’ coming to the US \u2014 with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 ‘easy-money’ assets will bring in \u2018great wealth\u2019<\/a>. How to get in now<\/p>\n When emotions run high, money often becomes a weapon \u2014 and the best defense is preparation.<\/p>\n Luken says one of the most effective safeguards is a prenuptial agreement, which outlines each partner\u2019s rights and responsibilities during the marriage and in the event of a divorce.<\/p>\n \u201cAt its core, a prenup encourages honesty, transparency, and open dialogue,\u201d Libby Leffler, founder and CEO of the online prenuptial company First, told Vogue. (5) Most importantly, a prenup can also help ensure that debts remain personal, safeguard family heirlooms, or provide for a secure financial future.\u201d<\/p>\n Marriage is a legal contract, and every state has its own laws governing how assets are divided when that contract ends \u2014 and those distinctions matter.<\/p>\n In community property states, assets acquired during a marriage are typically split 50\/50. In equitable distribution states, however, the court divides property based on what it considers fair, which doesn\u2019t always mean equal. Without a prenup, the state decides for you, and that outcome may not align with your expectations or financial goals.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also vital to keep tabs on shared accounts and household bills. During a separation, monitor any accounts that list both names. A spouse could delay payments to hurt your credit score or take on new debt under your shared obligations. In many states, any debt accumulated during the marriage is considered joint \u2014 even if only one person was swiping the card.<\/p>\n In divorce, emotions can cloud judgment, but preparation helps ensure your finances stay crystal clear.<\/p>\n Join 200,000+ readers and get Moneywise\u2019s best stories and exclusive interviews first \u2014 clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.<\/a><\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.<\/p>\n Pew Research (1<\/a>); Washington Post (2<\/a>); Bank Rate (3<\/a>); Nefe (4<\/a>); Vogue (5<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com<\/a> under the title: 40% of US adults admit to keeping a financial secret from their partner \u2014 how to tell if your spouse is hiding assets<\/a><\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No one walks down the aisle thinking about the exit, but divorce still finds its way to about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[6474,28,141518,155,141519,141520,1168,147,530,86114,35364,141517],"class_list":{"0":"post-262701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-bank-account","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-christine-luken","11":"tag-dave-ramsey","12":"tag-financial-coach","13":"tag-hanna-morell","14":"tag-jeff-bezos","15":"tag-personal-finance","16":"tag-personalfinance","17":"tag-pew-research","18":"tag-robert-kiyosaki","19":"tag-rubenstein"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}