Dirty Divorce Tricks Spouses Play | How to Avoid Them During Your Divorce

Summary

This video outlines 11 common dirty tricks often used during divorce proceedings, emphasizing how emotions like anger and distrust can lead to irrational behavior. The tricks include hiding assets, financially starving a spouse, manipulating small business income, creating fake emails, and parental alienation. The video highlights the legal implications of each trick and offers solutions, such as forensic accounting, securing financial support, and hiring expert witnesses, to ensure fairness in the divorce process. It stresses the importance of addressing these tactics early to protect one's rights and financial well-being.

Takeaways

• 💼 Hiding assets before a divorce is a common trick, but forensic accounting can help uncover hidden funds for a fair distribution.
• 💸 Financial starvation is often used by breadwinners to gain leverage during a divorce, but courts can intervene to address this tactic.
• 📉 Small business owners may artificially suppress income to manipulate financial settlements, but professionals can assess and impute the correct wages.
• 🔥 Angry spouses may spend assets recklessly to prevent the other from benefiting, so protective financial measures should be taken early.
• 📧 Fake emails and social media profiles are sometimes used to create false evidence, which can backfire if exposed in court.
• ⚠️ Extortion, like threatening to reveal secrets, is illegal and can be used to manipulate custody or settlement terms in a divorce.
• 🚨 False domestic violence claims can be used to gain an advantage in custody battles, but swift legal action is crucial to rectify such abuse of the system.
• ⚖️ Some spouses may meet with multiple attorneys to prevent the other from retaining representation, exploiting conflict-of-interest rules.
• 👶 Children are sometimes used as leverage in financial negotiations, but courts focus on what's best for the child, not parental manipulation.
• 🛑 Parental alienation, where one parent turns children against the other, is harmful and can be countered by involving child psychologists in court.

Q & A

What is one common financial trick a spouse may use during a divorce?

One common financial trick is hiding assets, such as investment accounts or cash, weeks or even years before filing for divorce, to prevent equitable distribution during the divorce process.

How can hidden assets be uncovered during a divorce?

Hidden assets can be uncovered through forensic accounting, where legal teams can examine past bank accounts and financial records to trace where the money has been moved.

What is the ‘starving a spouse financially’ tactic, and how is it used?

‘Starving a spouse financially’ occurs when a breadwinner spouse limits financial support by moving their paycheck to a separate account, leaving the other spouse with little to survive on. This is often done to pressure the other spouse during the divorce.

What can a spouse do if they are financially starved during a divorce?

The spouse should prepare for potential financial starvation by securing alternative funds, such as a line of credit or credit cards, and work with their lawyer to address the issue in court.

How do small business owners manipulate their income during a divorce?

Small business owners may artificially reduce their salary or withhold dividends to make their income appear lower during divorce proceedings. Some may also pay fake employees, often family members, to hide money.

What can be done if a small business owner is hiding income during a divorce?

Forensic accountants can analyze the business’s financial records to uncover discrepancies, and courts can impute income, ensuring the real income is used in divorce settlements.

How might a spouse use social media or fake accounts as a divorce tactic?

A spouse may create fake emails or social media profiles to produce fabricated evidence, such as fake messages or posts, which they can present in court to damage the other spouse's reputation.

What is the impact of fake evidence in divorce cases?

Although fake evidence may temporarily harm the other spouse, if discovered, it can severely damage the credibility of the spouse who fabricated it, potentially influencing the court’s final decision.

What is parental alienation, and how is it used as a tactic in divorce?

Parental alienation occurs when one parent manipulates their children into rejecting the other parent, often by speaking negatively about them. This tactic is used to gain control in custody battles.

How can parental alienation be addressed during a divorce?

Parental alienation can be addressed by involving child psychologists to diagnose and provide testimony about the manipulation, helping the court understand and take corrective measures.