Common Occurrences During Major Family Events
Sadly, this is a very common occurrence anytime there is some major family event: a divorce, a death in the family, somebody going into conservatorship. Many times, relatives look at it as an opportunity to take money that does not belong to them, especially in divorce cases.

How This Works in Divorce Cases
Here’s how this works: if two people are getting divorced, they have a joint set of assets that are mutually owned. That asset group needs to now be distributed properly, and there’s different rules and procedures on how that’s done. But in the course of doing that, if one of the parties wants to get more than their fair share, there are certain things they can do, especially if they know in advance that this divorce is happening.

Strategies to Get More Than a Fair Share
They can move money around, they can shift investments, and they can lower their income to make it look like they make less money. They can also do some hidden asset moves to conceal the asset group. Even though it’s not a death, it’s called an estate—a family estate—that artificially defrauds the other party out of what’s rightfully theirs. It’s called a fraudulent conveyance.

Disclaimer and Investigator’s Perspective
Now, remember, we’re not attorneys; we’re not giving you legal advice, but as investigators who do a lot of their work for attorneys, we see these cases all the time. And if the other party is clever enough, they can do things that, at least at first, will defraud you and deprive you of the money or assets that are rightfully yours.

Solutions and precautions
How do you solve this? Well, first of all, prior to the divorce being filed, make sure you get good asset searches so you get a baseline. Then, during the course of the divorce, watch the flow of funds—that’s called asset tracing. It’s not asset searching; it’s asset tracing. And you want to make sure that you’re aware of where these assets are going. Are they going into somebody else’s name? Are they going into different types of assets? And what are all the scenarios around that?

Final Advice
So, if you’re involved in any kind of family law case—divorce, death in the family, conservatorship—make sure you get good advice on exactly how to prepare for this and make sure that things that belong to you aren’t improperly going to another third party.