Divorce and dishonest disclosure: an all-too-common occurrence
Partner Deborah Jeff comments on parties failing to disclose wealth and assets during divorce proceedings, and the high price of doing so, in The Times.
"Hiding assets can amount to financial misconduct, which means that the court can penalise you by reflecting this in the financial settlement, or can make orders for costs against you.
"It can become a very expensive and protracted part of the process. Time is money, we bill by the hour, and it’s really common that hearings are adjourned while the party that we think are not disclosing their assets answers another round of questions."
Noting an instance where a client had secretly given £2 million to his twin sister in an attempt to hide it from the court, Deborah commented, "It all came out in the financial disclosure process and when we got to court the judge made it clear that she wasn’t impressed."
Speaking about cases where one spouse usually dealt with the finances in the relationship, and the resulting suspicions that the spouse is hiding some of the assets during divorce proceedings, Deborah commented, "If the other party has become mistrusting of their spouse, then they may think that a full and frank disclosure of assets has not been given, and that can lead to quite a protracted disclosure process — we see that all too often."
Deborah's comments were published in The Times, 29 May 2025.
