Divorce is an emotional process that many spouses have to go through. Although you have a top rated family law firm on your side, you may hesitate to share everything about your married life with them. Your family attorney may ask you to share even personal details and you may be worried about how your spouse would react when they learn about this information.
However, your attorney needs to know the truth, even those details that you find embarrassing. This will help them build a case and strengthen it for you. You should never hide important information from your attorney, especially in the middle of your divorce. The following are some of the details your lawyer must know at the get-go:
Prenuptial Agreement
The existence of a prenuptial agreement can change some terms of your divorce agreement, so your attorney must know about it. This legal written agreement contains both of your signatures as an agreement to terms stipulated in it. Often, a prenup specifies the assets that are considered separate property, which refers to property acquired before marriage. But, while separate property is not subject to equitable property division in many states, this is not the case in Washington.
The courts in Washington may include separate property when dividing property during the divorce proceedings. They will decide whether the exception applies and how the property must be distributed after they take into account several factors such as the length of the marriage, the separate assets and debts of every spouse, custody arrangements, and others.
Moreover, remember that an asset that was used to be “separate property” of one spouse can become community property. For example, your premarital bank account can become community property if your spouse makes deposits into it.
Hidden Assets
If you have assets that your spouse does not know about, make sure you share this information with your attorney. During the discovery process, the lawyer of your spouse may discover these assets and if your attorney is not aware of this, it could be hard to defend you in this situation. The attorney of the opposing partner is not forgiving and will try to fight for what’s best for their client. Hiding assets from your spouse could leave you facing consequences you would never wish to deal with during your divorce. Also, keep in mind that hiding assets is a violation of federal tax laws. You could avoid legal issues if your attorney knows about these assets from the start.
