By Jarrod Mamo.
Recently, Family Law has seen a rise in many different ways in which an individual’s assets are reflected. Gone are the days where clients would have their bank accounts, real estate and motor vehicles as their main assets. Nowadays, people are investing more in shares, cryptocurrency and other online investment platforms. The ease of access of these digital assets give rise to a concept known in the field as financial infidelity.
The most generalised form of financial infidelity would revolve around concealing cryptocurrency holdings, not disclosing gambling losses or money being transferred between family members without a partner knowing about it. This could even be something simpler like hiding a true income amount as a partial amount could be transferred to these digital assets.
If your partner, or someone you know, is potentially engaging in financial infidelity, the best initial course of action is to gather as most evidence as possible. Once you have done this, and only if it is safe to do so, there should be an attempt to discuss what you have found with your partner. There is a fine line between failing to make financial gains through shares/online gambling/cryptocurrency, and maliciously attempting to hide or spend money for private gain or disposing of funds illegally.
This can even be built towards a case of wastage of the relationship’s assets during a property settlement, where the Court may make the determination that the spending/movement of these digital assets has unnecessarily caused the total property pool to diminish. If this is found to be true, the offending partner could likely see a reduction in the entitlement of the property pool they were originally going to receive.
If you wish to contact us for a discussion about a Family Law matter, or if you think your partner may be engaging in financial infidelity, please contact us for an obligation-free initial consultation.
