GETTING A DIVORCE?

THERE’S nothing like a divorce to bring out the worst in people. Now on top of all the anger and bitterness you may be feeling towards each other, you have to haggle about who gets to keep the toaster, the couch and the cat – no wonder the situation often ends in tears.

Whether a couple are married in community of property or not, with or without accrual of capital, often one party believes they’re entitled to more than the other.

To further complicate matters, one partner may suspect the other of hiding assets to avoid sharing them.

Here are the red flags to look out for if you think your soon-to-be ex is stashing away cash.

BANK ACCOUNTS

One of the signs that someone’s hiding money is when they use bank accounts the other party doesn’t have access to, such as an account in a relative or friend’s name, despite having a joint bank account with their spouse. This isn’t easily noticeable but clues include requests for money to be deposited into an unknown account or ATM slips for a different account.

Another sign is when your partner tries to control your banking matters with regard to a shared account so you don’t have access to any information. They may have also have changed the login password and not shared it with you.

If large amounts are withdrawn from a shared account, insist you be told where the money went.

YOUR BUDGET

Check your household budget to see if expenses are reflected correctly. For example, your soon-tobe ex may claim that R2 000 was spent on school clothes that only cost R1 000. If this happens with many items, thousands of rands can be hidden.

Alarm bells should ring if you usually worked out your budget together but suddenly the entire computer program is wiped – even the information on the hard drive.

Your partner might insist you start using a new bookkeeping system that’s supposedly more efficient – but the data in the new system doesn’t correspond with your previous budgets.

If your spouse starts complaining about the poor state of their finances, maybe mentioning a sudden drop in income, it could be an attempt to turn the divorce settlement in their favour.

BELONGINGS

One of the oldest tricks in the book is when a partner gifts valuable possessions to a friend or relative. Generally, the plan is to get it back once the divorce is finalised without it ever becoming part of the asset distribution.

You might agree to sell certain shared possessions but your spouse insists you accept the first offer even though it’s way less than the items’ worth.

If you agree to do it, just make sure the buyer isn’t a friend or relative of your partner. Your spouse could be planning to buy back the items cheaply after the divorce is finalised.

Another trick is when your soonto-be ex buys expensive items for themselves on your joint account, then sells these after the divorce and pockets the money.

If you’re already in the process of divorcing, make sure the correct value of all belongings is indicated. Your partner might either inflate or reduce the true value of certain items to give themselves an unfair advantage.