Asset Searches

Three Reasons to Conduct An Asset Search

If the world were a fair place, you would never have to worry about people hiding things from you. Unfortunately, the world isn’t always a fair place. While most people are usually good, sometime greed, anger, or bitterness can lead someone to willfully deceive another person. Some deceptions, such as fibbing a bit about your age, may be harmless, but when the stakes are big, rooting out the truth may be essential. Asset searches are one way to ensure that others aren’t hiding important facts. Here are three common reasons why we receive requests for investigations of this kind.

Divorce Proceedings

People who are embroiled in divorce proceedings may benefit from asset searches. Divorces rulings often include judgments that state how assets, such as joint savings, investments, stocks, bonds, homes, and other property, will be divided between the participating parties. In some cases, one spouse may be concealing certain assets in order to avoid sharing them with the other spouse. Hidden bank accounts are routinely uncovered during investigations connected to divorce proceedings, ensuring a fairer split of assets as part of the divorce.

Divorce Settlements

Another reason many people initiate asset searches stems from divorce proceedings: as part of a divorce settlement and custody hearings, a judge may order one spouse to make child support payments to the ex-spouse. Spouses who are ordered to pay child support but who are reluctant to do so may adjust their finances so that it would appear that child support payments cannot be made. An investigation into a person’s assets can show whether or not this is actually the case and help the other spouse receive their legally mandated payments.

Estate Distribution

Disputes about the distribution of an estate amongst heirs causes others to see investigative services. Estates and inheritances are usually handled by the executor of a deceased person’s will. If one or more of the deceased person’s heirs feels that the executor is being dishonest or is withholding information, an asset search may confirm or refute their suspicions so they can be confident that they have all the facts.