UNCOVERING DIRTY TRICKS
"A husband secretly planning a divorce will begin hiding assets about
six months before taking any legal action," Elliott said.
"Unfortunately, there is always a wife who has no idea what her
husband has been doing with their community assets."
To take the pulse of a spouse's finances, Elliott sounds out sources
that serve as his investigative "stethoscope." In this way, he
constructs a profile of the subject — address history; properties
owned; businesses associated with, owned or managed; professional
licenses; bankruptcies, liens and judgments; and UCC filings. When
building such profiles, he almost always encounters something that
doesn't seem quite right.
"The financials of 97 percent of the people I've investigated were
untruthful in some respect," he said.
Choosing the right source for each search requires care. Once, when
combing through property records in what at first seemed like a
comprehensive database, Elliott discovered that it contained only the
current ownership information. It did not list sales and re-purchases
of properties over time — a serious deficiency that left chronological
gaps in the profile he was constructing. He then began using a
database that contained properties' full ownership history.
Whenever Elliott finds that his target owns several properties, he
searches further to determine how many loans the person took out on
each property and to review its deed history.
"I look for signs of equity-stripping, where someone has repeatedly
re-financed a property without the spouse's knowledge," he said. "If
that's been happening, I find out where the proceeds went. Often,
they'll wind up in a shell account or false business set up solely to
hide that money from the spouse. It's very important to understand the
structure of such ‘hidden' businesses. The assets they hold could be
inaccessible to a deceived spouse."
Elliott also searches for bankruptcy judgments and liens, which can
legally encumber the community property assets his clients seek.
"If my client's ex-husband has a lien against him, it's important that
she understand and prepare for the fact that she won't get her share
until the lien is cleared," Elliott said.
TIME FOR A CHECK-UP
Using the above search methods, Elliott soon hit pay dirt in his current case.
"I discovered that my client's husband was the subject of three UCC
filings in the last five years, including one a few months ago,"
Elliott said. "If he really is experiencing financial hardship, how
was he able to qualify for a loan?"
Although the UCC filings did not provide much detail, they did reveal
the loan's existence.
"This will enable my client's attorney to appear before the judge and
obtain a subpoena," Elliott said. "That will require the lender to
produce the loan application, revealing the husband's bank account
information, including the assets he listed as collateral for the
loan. I expect the resulting asset profile will demonstrate he is able
to make those alimony payments to my client. The court might even
order him to provide her with additional community property monies she
is entitled to."
Elliott expects the case will be resolved by the end of the year.
PERSERVERANCE PAYS
"If a search doesn't turn up what you need, think it over and look
elsewhere," Elliott said. "All it takes is one nugget of information
to get to the next question and answer. But you won't find it unless
you're thorough and persistent."
Robert Tie is a New York business writer.
"A husband secretly planning a divorce will begin hiding assets about
six months before taking any legal action," Elliott said.
"Unfortunately, there is always a wife who has no idea what her
husband has been doing with their community assets."
To take the pulse of a spouse's finances, Elliott sounds out sources
that serve as his investigative "stethoscope." In this way, he
constructs a profile of the subject — address history; properties
owned; businesses associated with, owned or managed; professional
licenses; bankruptcies, liens and judgments; and UCC filings. When
building such profiles, he almost always encounters something that
doesn't seem quite right.
"The financials of 97 percent of the people I've investigated were
untruthful in some respect," he said.
Choosing the right source for each search requires care. Once, when
combing through property records in what at first seemed like a
comprehensive database, Elliott discovered that it contained only the
current ownership information. It did not list sales and re-purchases
of properties over time — a serious deficiency that left chronological
gaps in the profile he was constructing. He then began using a
database that contained properties' full ownership history.
Whenever Elliott finds that his target owns several properties, he
searches further to determine how many loans the person took out on
each property and to review its deed history.
"I look for signs of equity-stripping, where someone has repeatedly
re-financed a property without the spouse's knowledge," he said. "If
that's been happening, I find out where the proceeds went. Often,
they'll wind up in a shell account or false business set up solely to
hide that money from the spouse. It's very important to understand the
structure of such ‘hidden' businesses. The assets they hold could be
inaccessible to a deceived spouse."
Elliott also searches for bankruptcy judgments and liens, which can
legally encumber the community property assets his clients seek.
"If my client's ex-husband has a lien against him, it's important that
she understand and prepare for the fact that she won't get her share
until the lien is cleared," Elliott said.
TIME FOR A CHECK-UP
Using the above search methods, Elliott soon hit pay dirt in his current case.
"I discovered that my client's husband was the subject of three UCC
filings in the last five years, including one a few months ago,"
Elliott said. "If he really is experiencing financial hardship, how
was he able to qualify for a loan?"
Although the UCC filings did not provide much detail, they did reveal
the loan's existence.
"This will enable my client's attorney to appear before the judge and
obtain a subpoena," Elliott said. "That will require the lender to
produce the loan application, revealing the husband's bank account
information, including the assets he listed as collateral for the
loan. I expect the resulting asset profile will demonstrate he is able
to make those alimony payments to my client. The court might even
order him to provide her with additional community property monies she
is entitled to."
Elliott expects the case will be resolved by the end of the year.
PERSERVERANCE PAYS
"If a search doesn't turn up what you need, think it over and look
elsewhere," Elliott said. "All it takes is one nugget of information
to get to the next question and answer. But you won't find it unless
you're thorough and persistent."
Robert Tie is a New York business writer.
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