Can secret accounts be found?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can secret accounts be found?
I know separate accounts have to be accounted for but if one has an account that the other doesn’t know about, can their attorney find it somehow during a divorce? How about saving cash and holding it in a safety deposit box? I got screwed 24 years ago with my first divorce and ended up needing to file bankruptcy. I don’t want to go through that again just because I’m not the bread winner in the house and struggle to pay bills instead of big shot lawyers.
Asked on July 17, 2019 under Family Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
There really is no good way to find a secret account (or safe deposit box) if the other side is disciplined about not mentioning it, not turning over (even inadvertantly) any documentation of it, etc. In a divorce, you can issue subpoenas to banks you suspect he may have accounts at, and ask them to provide information of any such accounts (or safe deposit boxes), but if you happen to not send the supboenas to the right bank(s), you'll get no information. Or you can hire a "forensic accountant" to go over his income statements, tax returns, and the known bank/brokerage/etc. accounts and see if there is unaccounted for money and possible from "trail" of checks or transfers to see where it went, but this not guaranteed to work and can be expensive--forensic accountants do not work cheap.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.