There is a saying sometimes attributed to Chinese folklore that can be applied to divorce: “Do not beat drums before you hunt for tigers”. So how is it applicable? It’s an admonition against saying too much about the divorce until things are actually underway. This is especially important when dealing with financial matters – too much advance notice may prompt your spouse to liquidate accounts, delay depositing checks into accounts to keep the value of the account low, or in some way disrupt the paper trail that should be available for such accounts, making it difficult to prove their value.
Avoid unpleasant surprises – don’t put yourself in a position where an account you expected to be in the plus column now shows a zero balance, and there is no paper trail on which an investigation can be based.
As always, every situation is unique. This series is intended to “start the thinking process” to take emotive choices out of a hard situation. Everyone’s situation is different, and this is not intended as legal advice. Please, speak to a divorce attorney prior to making any decisions, especially decisions based on a simple blog post. There are many mitigating factors that will go into the final divorce decree.
