Trace Hidden Assets and Income
Assessments are the first order of
business
in military operations.
-- Sun Tzu
Documents help uncover hidden
income and assets. If you can not retrieve the actual documents, try to find
out where the documents are stored, then employ a secret agent/investigator
to retrieve them, or use "discovery" as a last resort.
The palest ink is better than the best
memory.
--Old Chinese Proverb
Photocopy the Master List of
Documents in Appendix "A." Even seemingly unimportant papers help trace
hidden assets and income, so copy everything! If your husband keeps his
records at work, build alliances and enlist allies among his professional
colleagues as described in Chapter Three.
Keep the enemy uninformed of your activities until
disclosure gives you a strategic advantage--timing is everything.
The importance of secrecy is evident when you start
investigating husbands who operate cash businesses. You must recreate the
family's financial history, but if you conduct your investigation openly,
your husband may take countermeasures to mislead you. Covertly investigate
whether family expenses exceed reported income. For instance, if your
husband claims he earns $50,000, but family expenses are $150,000, ask the
court for support orders based on an annual income of $50,000 plus the
"imputed" income of $100,000. Naturally, your husband will claim you are
overestimating his income, but if you cannot agree on finances, your case
goes to trial--a risky and traumatic event. Therefore, build a meticulous
case against your husband during the planning stage, then offer the
irrefutable "proof" to your husband and his legal advisor, who will be
forced to urge him to settle.
The following fact patterns may alert you to possible
deceptions practiced by your husband.
You live in a fine neighborhood,
own luxuries, send your children to private schools, and travel abroad
frequently. For no apparent reason your husband cuts back on necessities and
eliminates luxuries. Does this mean that business is bad? Your husband may
be hiding income. Investigate!
You live a modest life style
despite your husband's long hours and hard work at his privately-owned
business. Families occasionally live below their means, but if you did not
manage the family business, you need insider information to uncover income
and assets. Family members and disgruntled employees are excellent sources
of information so check state labor department records for employee
lawsuits.
If your husband is secretive, but keeps records at home,
you may want to follow this example of a housewife married for 25 years:
Martha's husband Henry was obsessively secretive, but
kept extensive business records at home. She arranged delivery of a
rented photocopier to the marital home, and over a two-day period while
Henry was on a sales trip she copied several hundred documents. Her
photocopy expense at 10 cents a page was minimal compared to the quality
of the information and the fortune she saved in legal fees. How could
Henry hide his high sales commissions when confronted with Martha's well
documented proof?
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Perspective of Article
We would have to agree with one of the
comments posted about this article (see "other comments" below) that the
emphasis seems to be on husband-bashing. However, that is the perspective
that the author, Stephen Fuchs, chose to take. If you look at other comments
about his book, you will see that the controversial nature of his writing
may be deliberate. We would agree, from experience, that wives can be every
bit as manipulative, as the comment points out.
Labor Department
The article also suggests that former
employees are a good source of information if your spouse owns a business.
The Louisiana Department of Labor
would be the source to start looking for that type of information.
Business Information
If your spouse's business is incorporated
or a LLC or partnership, it will be listed with the Secretary of State's
corporation department.
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