Community Property, Taxes and Hiding Assets in Idaho
Idaho is a community property state. What this means for the divorcing couple is regardless of whether you stayed and home and took care of the kids or you were the "bread winner", you each have an equal interest in the community's money. What is not included in this is separate property such as property acquired before marriage or property or monies received pursuant to inheritance. Of course, this can get tricky too when the parties "co-mingle" separate property funds.How to Find the Goods
When these issues arise in divorce your attorney will take several different angles to try to figure out which monies belong to the community, which ones need to be reimbursed by the community and which ones are separate. Sometimes it takes some sleuthing to figure this out. This is called "tracing" and it is done through "discovery". Your Boise Divorce Attorney will look at tax returns, bank account records and other financial information to see who did what with the money and where it was used.Often times people will ask, "aren't my financial records my own business?" Unfortunately, when it comes to dividing the community estate, they aren't your own business; they are the business of the community and are required to be available to each other's divorce attorney.
Hidden Assets
Other things that discovery help attorneys uncover is hidden assets or monies. Sometimes people will claim they only make a modest sum of money, when in reality they make more than what they want you to know. Tax returns often don't reflect this. This is where the attorneys need to turn to the bank records. Of course, nothing is bullet proof and people can still hide money by using cash or "straw men". If this happens the divorce attorney needs to look at life style. How were the couple living? Could their income support that? Was it all purchased through credit?Finally, you might ask, "Why would anyone want to hide money?" Although the question seems obvious, it is for reasons such as wanting to reduce the amount of child support you have to pay or so that you end up with more money or property after the divorce than what you are entitled to.
If you need a Boise divorce attorney, give us a call today and see what we can do for you, (208) 472-2383 or visit us at www.lawboiseid.com
