Use formal tools rather than trying to investigate alone: discovery requests, subpoenas to banks and employers, depositions, and where necessary, a motion to compel with sanctions. Stonewalling discovery is itself a strategy, because delay drives up your costs and exhausts you. Courts can respond with orders, fee awards, and adverse judgments against a party who conceals. Where money is genuinely being hidden and the amounts justify it, a forensic accountant, or for sophisticated concealment a Certified Fraud Examiner, is the specialist for the job.
Delay is the tactic
Been There Got Out identifies the pattern outright: delaying and failing to cooperate during the process keeps you trapped in the legal system and drives the bills up. Recognizing it as deliberate helps, because the instinct to keep asking politely simply extends it. Move to formal mechanisms sooner than feels comfortable.
The tools available
Discovery includes written questions (interrogatories), requests for documents, and depositions under oath. When a party will not produce the required information, your attorney can subpoena records directly from banks, employers, and other institutions, which is often faster than fighting over what your ex hands over. A motion to compel asks the court to order production, and repeated non-compliance can bring sanctions, fee awards, and in some cases an instruction that the court may draw an adverse inference from the concealment.
When you need a specialist
Tax returns are the usual starting point, though as BTGO notes they can be unreliable where someone is willing to misreport. For business owners and complex finances a forensic accountant investigates the picture behind the paperwork. Where concealment is sophisticated, BTGO points to a further level of expertise, quoting Certified Fraud Examiner James Peet.
We have a tendency, and here’s the mindset, to be a little bit more suspicious than forensic accountants. A lot of forensic accountants, and you can be a CPA, but that doesn’t focus on fraud. There’s a limit to how much deception even a good forensic accountant can uncover.
James Peet, Certified Fraud Examiner
These specialists cost money, so weigh the likely recovery against the fee. Where significant assets are involved, the expertise usually pays for itself.
Signs worth flagging
A sudden drop in reported income, a business whose revenue falls sharply once the divorce starts, unexplained transfers to family members or new accounts, deferred bonuses or commissions, cryptocurrency, and cash-heavy operations. Gather what you have access to now, because access tends to close.
When your ex simply does not pay what they owe
For court-ordered amounts, enforcement runs through the court: motions to enforce, contempt, wage garnishment, and liens. Keep a precise ledger of what was ordered, what was due, what arrived, and when, since a clean record is what makes enforcement straightforward. For informal debts between you, document what was agreed and what was paid, and raise it with your attorney rather than withholding something else.
Deciding when to escalate and when a specialist is justified is a cost-benefit call BTGO’s coaching can help you make with your attorney.
Frequently asked questions
What do I do if my ex is hiding money?
Use formal discovery and subpoena records directly from banks and employers. Where amounts justify it, engage a forensic accountant, or a Certified Fraud Examiner for sophisticated concealment.
What if my ex will not comply with discovery?
Move to formal mechanisms rather than continuing to just ask. A motion to compel asks the court to order production, and repeated non-compliance can bring sanctions, fee awards, and adverse inferences.
My ex says they cannot get a job. Does that mean I get nothing?
No. Courts can impute income based on earning capacity rather than reported income, using work history, qualifications, and available jobs as evidence.
What are the signs someone is hiding assets?
A sudden drop in income, business revenue falling once the divorce begins, unexplained transfers to family or new accounts, deferred bonuses, cryptocurrency, and cash-heavy operations.
What happens if my ex does not pay what the court ordered?
Enforcement runs through the court: motions to enforce, contempt, garnishment, and liens. Keep a precise ledger of what was ordered, due, and paid, which makes enforcement simpler.
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