Husband Selling Assets Before Divorce
July 2022
In a divorce financial settlement, the family assets should be shared fairly. If your partner sells assets before your divorce and the resolution of your financial claims this may reduce the amount of your financial award.
If you are worried that your husband or wife is selling assets, please speak to our family solicitors to understand your options and how to protect your rights.
Initial Discussion
For an initial free discussion and a no-obligation quote, get in touch with us today by simply calling us on 01234 343134 or email us at enquiries@fullersfamilylaw.com and a member of our team will get back to you.
Husband Selling Assets Before a Divorce
During financial settlement proceedings, both parties are both under an obligation to provide full and frank financial disclosure. Selling assets to hide the money raised goes directly against this principle.
There may be a good reason why assets are being sold. For example, you and your husband may have both agreed to the sale of the family home. However, if you are concerned that your husband is selling assets at an undervalue, spending the proceeds or transferring property to friends and family, you should seek urgent legal advice from a specialist family law solicitor.
Stopping Husband Selling Assets
If you think that your husband or wife is selling assets to defeat or reduce your financial settlement claim, your solicitor can apply to the family court for an injunction order. This is known as a section 37 order and stops the sale of assets or freezes money held in bank accounts. Your family lawyer can also try to prevent the sale of property by proactively registering your rights in property with the land registry.
In addition, your solicitor can consider asking the court:
- To ‘undo’ the sale of the asset – however, this is not always possible
- To join the person who received the asset as a party to the financial settlement proceedings. The person is referred to as an intervenor
- To make inferences about the reasons for the sale of the assets and penalise your husband by giving you a larger financial settlement and making cost orders
- To award you a greater share of the remaining assets
If you are concerned about the disposal of any family assets, it is best to get urgent legal advice so an injunction order can be considered before the sale goes through. The asset does not have to be in your joint names to be protected.
How to Spot Signs of Financial Misconduct
You may also be concerned about possible financial misconduct carried out by your husband to reduce your financial settlement. Signs of financial misconduct can include:
- Gambling is said to be a reason for loss of savings or spending a bonus
- Large gifts to friends and family
- Quick sales of assets, including property and shares in a family company
- Substantial cash withdrawals
- Cashing in a pension or an investment
- Unusual and unexplained bank transactions and expensive purchases
- Moving money overseas
Protecting Yourself
If you do not know the extent of your partner’s wealth, or you know that their assets are complicated, or you think that your partner has been planning to separate from you and managing their finances and assets accordingly, it is best to get expert advice from specialist solicitors as soon as possible to protect yourself and your family.
How Can Fullers Help?
For a free initial discussion and a no-obligation quote, get in touch with us today by simply calling us on 01234 343134, filling in the contact form below, or emailing us at enquiries@fullersfamilylaw.com and a member of our team will get back to you.
