Law Office of Joanne Kleiner

Archives for November 2014

Nov 21

How to Tell If Your Ex-Spouse is Hiding Assets

How to Know When Your Spouse is Hiding Assets

Nest EggOne of the most difficult issues to address in a divorce is the division of assets. Unfortunately, before and during the divorce process, parties may engage in activities designed to unfairly improve their portion of the marital property settlement. There are many ways a marital partner can try to cheat a spouse out of the equitable distribution of property. Here are some of some of the common red flags indicating that your spouse may be hiding assets or attempting to get more than his or her fair share.

  • Your spouse creates a separate account—Your spouse may set up bank, investment and other accounts in his or her name only, in the name of a business, or in a trust. You may even be aware of those accounts, and have separate accounts of your own. Once a divorce is filed, though, you need your ex to produce official records for all accounts into which any funds have been deposited.
  • Defer bonuses, raises or other compensation—If your spouse owns his or her own business, the easiest way to hide assets is to leave money in the business—take no salary until the divorce is final. If your spouse is friendly with his or her boss, he/she may ask for a deferral of any raise or bonus until the divorce is finalized. If your ex works on a commission basis, he or she can agree to accrue commissions until the divorce is over.
  • Transfer assets to a third party—This can be done with the agreement that everything will be returned when the divorce is over.
  • Delay invoicing—If your spouse owns a business, he or she can do work, but decline to send invoices out until the divorce is final.
  • Make major business purchases—One of the ways a business owner can diminish assets available for division is to spend them. Beware if your ex has remodeled a facility, moved into a new building, purchased new machines or upgraded technology.
  • Fabricated expenses—Your ex may simply make up personal or business expenses. Your attorney will want to scrutinize all business and personal expenses before and during the divorce.

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    Let us put our commitment, experience and dedication to work for you. To arrange a confidential meeting with an experienced Pennsylvania family law attorney, contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266.

Nov 11

The Divorce Mediation Process

Using Mediation to Settle Differences in a Divorce

Attorney ConsultationYour marriage may be over, but you may not want to get into a long and protracted battle over custody, visitation, support and property distribution. Mediation may be the best approach for you.

In mediation, instead of engaging in an adversarial process, you and your ex-spouse work with a neutral third party known as a mediator. The mediator acts as a facilitator, helping both of you identify mutually beneficial ways to resolve your disputes. The mediator has no vested interest in a particular outcome, but is simply charged with helping you and your ex come to agreement on issues related to custody and visitation, support and property allocation.

Mediation offers a number of advantages over the traditional divorce process:

  • Because the mediator does not listen to legal arguments or make legal decisions, there is no need for lengthy and expensive discovery proceedings, such as depositions or the production of documents. There are also no motion hearings, debates over the admissibility of evidence or other costly procedures. Accordingly, mediation is typically far less expensive than litigation.
  • Mediation usually takes far less time. With most mediators, you can typically schedule the mediation within a couple months, often within 30 days. The process itself can usually be completed in a day or less, unless you have really complex issues.
  • With mediation, you get a say in the outcome. You can propose ways to resolve your differences and you can always reject a settlement offer from your ex. You don’t have to wait for a third party (judge or jury) to make a decision, with a 50/50 chance of winning or losing.

In mediation, any solution you come to will be one that you and your ex have crafted. The mediator does not make determinations of who is right and who is wrong, and won’t issue any rulings. The mediator may express concerns that one party has undue influence over the other, but won’t consider testimony from third parties and won’t be concerned about evidence or legal arguments, unless they can be used to move you toward settling your differences.

Contact Attorney Joanne E. Kleiner

Let us help you find a workable solution to a marital property dispute. Contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266 to schedule a confidential consultation. We will help you stay focused on the issues that matter.