This is a common fear among women facing divorce. As a CPA, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst^® professional, I see it all the time.

The good news: The fear of it happening is way more common than its actually happening.

And here’s more good news: The fear is often along the lines of “Oh, no: He’s successfully hidden hundreds of thousands of dollars that should be split between us!” The reality is more like, “It was somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000—enough to matter, and be accounted for… but not enough make or break your financial future.”

So. Take a deep breath. And let’s talk about this for a minute.

First off: If any divorcing woman comes to me and suspects that her husband is hiding money on her, I must assume that she is right. And I will do everything in my professional power to pursue it. So, you can relax about that, too.

Basically, there are two ways I approach this.

First, I’ll just do some high-level, back-of-the-envelope calculations. I can sniff out when things just don’t seem right. For example, if someone is trying to hide money, they don’t do it five dollars at a time. They’ll do it in big enough chunks to leave a trail.

And then, there’s the detailed financial analysis that follows. Examining individual transactions on individual statements. Things like that.

Lots of times, the “hiding” is inadvertent. I had a client who disclosed a deferred-compensation plan to the attorney, but not the business-valuation expert who was brought in on the case. While the omission ended up under-valuing the business (translation: the wife was owed more, as I uncovered), it turned out to be an oversight. Not malicious intent. Still, as you can see, I certainly earned my keep.

What should you do?

If you have your suspicions, contact me. But before you do, gather up some stuff to help. Account statements for all the accounts you know about. If your spouse is an executive or highly-compensated worker with a detailed benefits package (beyond, say, the traditional health insurance and 401(k)), get a copy of his employment agreement.

Know what else helps? Pay stubs. In fact, I find them even more valuable than W-2s, since they show every single place that every penny of that paycheck is being sent to. I’ll track this stuff down for you. Don’t you worry.

So, see if your suspicions are well-founded… or not. Contact me and let me help you chart a financial future that’s tailored to your needs.

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