What methods do lawyers use to find hidden property and assets during divorce When divorce attorneys are helping clients, what methods do they have at their disposal to find assets and property that has been hidden by their opponents clients? Is there a proper phase for this kind of research and investigation? Or should the client try to find out as much before filing? What if one spouse creates a corporation and transfers assets into it before the divorce? Can a person create a corporation completely anonymously without any trace going back to the person? What happens in court when one spouse refuses to identify any assets, or pay alimony or provide any kind of spousal support at all?
In a typical divorce proceeding, both sides are required to provide a sworn statement of their finances, and to respond to written interrogatories, produce documents (e.g. financial statements made in loan applications, balance sheets, tax returns, bank statements, and copies of deeds and certificates of title and stock certificates) and be deposed in pre-trial discovery proceedings. Divorce lawyers have the authority to subpoena third-party records custodians and to take a small number of depositions of third-party witnesses prior to a permanent orders hearing and can usually get permission to take more if there is evidence suggesting that it would be fruitful to do so. There are a variety of sanctions that may be imposed for failure to cooperate, including adverse inferences regarding the facts that would have been disclosed if there had been disclosures in the discovery process. Still, it behooves a client to know as much as possible before commencing the process, since having lawyers gather this information during the course of divorce litigation is expensive and isn't always perfect. Where misconduct is suspected, a spouse's lawyer will typically retain forensic accountants and/or private investigators and will compare bank and accounting and tax records with other public records such as real property records, corporate records and tax filings. Unless an asset has produced no income or expenses flowing through a personal or business account, it will usually show up somewhere. Spouses will also often have familiarity with where to look based upon living with a spouse and often will have obtained copies of relevant correspondence or documents to provide a lead - perhaps a letter asking a spouse to fill out corporate paperwork or receipt from a foreign bank account. This investigation process (collectively called discovery) usually takes place between the filing for a divorce and the half year or more later when a permanent orders hearing is held. Often, in complex cases and cases where there is a likelihood that assets have been hidden, the final hearing will be set later after the original filing than it would otherwise be, and the planned hearing will be longer in light of the evidence that will need to be produced at that time. In my state, a spouse has up to five years after a divorce to reopen a proceeding is undisclosed assets are discovered. It isn't impossible to hide assets in a divorce, but it isn't easy either.
The issue is more one of what an attorney is ethically authorized to disclose pursuant to professional ethics rules (Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6 as enacted locally) more than one of attorney-client privilege. Attorney-client privilege governs what someone can or cannot be compelled to disclose without their consent (usually by subpoena). Attorney confidentiality, in contrast, governs what an attorney can disclosed when not compelled to do so by something like a subpoena. Generally, disclosure of confidential client information is allowed if it is in furtherance of the representation or authorized by the client (there are also other exceptions but those aren't really any different in a two lawyer v. one lawyer situation). Often when two attorneys represent the same person (and the disclosure won't waive the privileged nature of the information vis-a-vis third-parties under a joint defense theory), disclosures from one attorney for a person to another attorney for a person will do that. In practice, however, the analysis could be quite fact specific and there isn't really a bright line rule governing when it would or would not be allowed.
Mary has two options (that are not mutually exclusive). The stronger one is to file for divorce immediately and obtain an injunction against this activity in that case. In some states (e.g. Colorado) an injunction takes effect the moment that divorce papers are served upon a spouse. The weaker one is to ask the divorce judge to allocate the value of the imprudently spent funds to Bob in the division of assets. The doctrine that allows the judge to do this even in a state that otherwise has only "no fault" divorce, is often called "economic waste" or "economic fault." The same doctrine applies, for example, if one spouses destroys valuable property of the other out of spite.
Applicable Law A marital agreement can be entered into both before marriage (a prenup) and after marriage (a postnup). And, it will have the same legal effect in either case once entered into by the parties. In practice, marital agreements are usually proposed by a more affluent spouse and are reviewed by a less affluent spouse who will be giving up many of the legal economic rights usually associated with being married because the alternative is to not get married at all and the less affluent spouse thinks that marriage is still worth it even with fewer economic rights. The governing principle of marital agreements is that they must be entered into with the highest level of voluntariness, good faith, and full disclosure. Typically, a prenup with (1) limit the rights of the less affluent spouse in a property division upon divorce, (2) limit the less affluent spouse's inheritance rights, (3) limit the less affluent spouse's right to maintenance (a.k.a. alimony) upon divorce or legal separation, and (4) limit the less affluent spouse's rights to attorneys' fees in the event of a divorce. Often, these limitations are phased in superficially more equal terms, but the agreement only has a practical affect limiting a spouse's legal economic rights in marriage on the less affluent spouse, when it is recognized that one spouse is starting out affluent and the other spouse is starting out less affluent. The question states that: "I have kids so I want to protect them." So, determining precisely what you want to protect your kids from and how, in a manner that your spouse, courts evaluating the agreement in the future, and immigration officials, would consider to be legitimate, would be critical. You should know what impact a death or divorce would have during a short lived marriage for someone in your shoes because you start trying to change the rules, because you might be surprised to learn that the status quo is less unfair than you believe it to be. For example, in many states, property owned by one party before the marriage was commenced is not subject to division as marital property upon divorce and often the right to alimony following a short marriage that does not produce children is quite modest. Also, if you are extremely worried about the possibility that your new marriage could fail and that this would force you to make economic sacrifices that you do not think would be acceptable under the status quo in the absence of a prenup, you might want to think twice about whether getting marriage in the way that you are planning to get marriage is really a good idea. Excessive worries about a break up that is damaging to you may be your subconscious's way of telling you that you have grave concerns about this marriage that could be deal breaking, as well as your outward positive hopes and dreams that may be unrealistic. You had a relationship or marriage that failed once. You may be ready for a more successful relationship now, but you need to be comfortable that the circumstances that caused your previous marriage to fail are unlikely to recur. No prenup will ever make a divorce easy or painless, although it can bring some predictability to the process, if a prenup is well drafted and reasonable. Typically, to prepare a valid marital agreement: it must be in writing; it will contain no invalid terms (e.g., in most cases, terms relating to child support or parental responsibilities, or terms that make marital fault relevant to the economic rights of the parties); both parties will have reviewed a complete disclosure of the other party's financial circumstances; each party will have had an opportunity to consult with a lawyer familiar this these agreements (at the other party's expense if the person agreeing to it can not afford a lawyer of their own); each party will review the terms of the agreement in a language that they can understand, and the circumstances under which the agreement is signed will not be under duress broadly defined (for example, to include presentation of the agreement on the eve of the wedding day without adequate time to consider its terms without undue negative consequences if the spouse does not agree). Typically, the lawyer for each party would sign the agreement to confirm that all formal requirements and counsel regarding the agreement has taken place. A marital agreement that doesn't meet the applicable legal standards (which vary state to state). I have cited the law in Colorado which requires parties to follow what would only be considered "best practices" in many other states, although there would be plenty of states where these legal standards would apply. A marital agreement is still not valid if it is unconscionable to a spouse at the time it is to be enforced, for example, leaving one spouse unable to meet her basic needs and the other spouse wealthy after a long marriage. There is no requirement that a prenup be signed in any particular country or place, so long as the person signing it understands that their signature is intended to be binding. There is no requirement that a prenup be signed by both spouses at the same time, as long as both spouses sign it before it is to become effective. Realistically, as of 2017 in an average cost of living U.S. area, you are probably looking a legal expenses and related expenses involved in making a prenup happen given the need for Chinese speaking legal professionals and logistical issues, at an expense of $7,500 to $15,000 or more to get a prenup done under this circumstances. You would need to decide if this expense was worth the benefit to you. Options It could be signed by your spouse while your spouse to be is in China, if the proper formalities are observed. In terms of the enforceability of the agreement, and the likelihood that it will be executed, this is probably the best option. But, as a practical matter this may be difficult to accomplish this because lawyers knowledgeable about U.S. law who can communicate in the spouse's topolect of Chinese may be hard to find, and Chinese attitudes towards prenups may be different from those of people in the U.S. Negotiating a prenup in the face of a quite new relationship that often doesn't have a lot of depth at the start and is based upon mutual hope and a belief that the couple has shared interests as much as an actual long term relationship prior to getting engaged (which is common in marriages of the kind described in this question) can present a difficult challenge for the couple as they develop a marriage relationship very early on in their process when they don't have a lot of communication and relationship foundation to build upon. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Suppose that you've known your girlfriend continuously since she was 14 years old and she is now 24 (you are 25) and both of you are fluently bilingual, because you grew up next to an embassy and she was the daughter of an embassy official and you went to prom together, and then the two of you went to college and graduate school together living together for five of those years. Suppose that she is from a wealthy family and needs the pre-nup to protect her family's wealth, and you are not very affluent despite being the U.S. spouse. Suppose that she's was a paralegal in a family law firm that draws up prenups when she was in college before moving back to China when she finished her studies, while you are a divorce lawyer, and that the two of you have talked about marital agreements for years. This might not be much of a relationship issue and might not pose the kinds of immigration questions raised below. But, if you fell into one of the exceptions to the general rule, you wouldn't be asking this question in the first place in all likelihood. It is possible to obtain a financee visa which allows a foreign spouse to immigrate to the United States with an intent to marry upon arrival. But, in that situation there would be real doubt about whether a marital agreement signed upon arrival would be truly voluntary because failing to agree to the prenup and not getting marriage as a result would result in the financee's immediate deportation and terminate a wedding that the wife had already moved half way across the world and given up everything to participate in. It is possible to execute a post-nup, but in that case, if it was truly voluntary, the wife probably wouldn't sign it because it would mean that she would be giving up rights that she had already acquired as a result of the marriage for nothing in return, and if it was involuntary, then it wouldn't be valid. (There are circumstances when a post-nup can make sense for a spouse to voluntarily enter into after marriage, for example, to make rich relatives comfortable including a person in their Will or making a large gift to one of the spouses that is intended to stay in the family but will benefit the spouse during the marriage and the couple's children, but the facts in the question don't naturally suggest any of those circumstances.) Immigration Concerns Unlike an ordinary marriage, which is presumed to be valid and in good faith, marriages which afford a spouse the right to immigrate to the U.S. and in due course, to become a U.S. citizen if certain other requirements are met, are carefully scrutinized for signs that it is a "sham marriage" and immigration judges can be quite skeptical in determining whether or not a marriage is a sham. Couples go to great lengths to prove otherwise, and the burden is effectively placed upon them to show that they are not engaged in marriage fraud and instead actually married for love. If a marriage with an immigrant is found to be a sham, the immigrant's visa will be revoked, the immigrant's citizenship application will be denied, and the immigrant may become deportable. There may also be sanctions for the citizen or permanent resident spouse who sponsored the immigrant. One factor among many that can be considered when determining if a marriage is a sham marriage or not is the existence of a prenup or postnup, and even more importantly, its terms. The more unfavorable the terms of the prenup or postnup are to the immigrant spouse, the more likely it is that an immigration official will conclude that a marriage is a sham for immigration purposes. There isn't a hard and fast rule, but it is one factor that is considered among others in reaching that determination. The key factors in evaluating a prenup for immigration purposes are the terms of the agreement. The more the immigrant spouse's legal rights in the marriage are limited, the more likely immigration officials are to view the marriage as a sham and the couple as engaged in marriage fraud. On the other hand, if all a prenup does is to insure that a new spouse and children from a former relationship have equal inheritance rights and no rights upon divorce are modified at all, immigration officials may view the prenup as relatively innocuous. Conclusion There are a lot of good reasons not to get a prenup in the circumstances you identify if most of my hunches about the usual circumstances involved when someone asks a question of the kind that you have are true. Before taking this step, you would be wise to consult with a lawyer to see what the likely economic and legal consequences of a divorce or death in the absence of a prenup would likely be in your case, as I suspect that your fears may be exaggerated or may involve issues that a prenup can't address. It could be that once you are well informed it is still clear to you that a prenup is a good decision. But, given multiple indications that this may not be a good choice for you, I would strongly suggest thinking twice about this decision after conferring with a lawyer about your individualized circumstances before going forward with this plan.
Can a person sign a contract committing to never taking an ex-spouse to Family Court? Basically no. There are important circumstances where waiving a right to sue is not allowed as a matter of law, which often apply. This cannot be done: (1) if the existence or validity of the marriage is disputed, (2) in cases where there are (or could be) minor children, (3) in cases where there are adult children in connection with whom there is child support owed, that is not approved by the court with the child or a guardian for a child approving it, (4) in the case of alimony provisions that are &quot;unconscionable&quot; as that standard is defined for family law purposes, and (5) in cases where there was a defect (such as lack of adequate financial disclosure) in connection with entering into the agreement in question. But, otherwise, it is possible to agree to property divisions in a divorce, attorney fee divisions in a completed divorce, and to alimony awards, that cannot be challenged in court except on the grounds shown above. Often a family court will retain jurisdiction to resolve disputes that arise to interpret property division and alimony awards that were properly entered into when the alimony award was not unconscionable at the time it comes into being, and to enforce breaches of the agreement. But this doesn't have to be done. When jurisdiction is not retained, questions of interpretation and enforcement can be brought in a new court. I've seen divorces where ambiguities in property division language in agreements are interpreted by courts decades later to figure out who owns what property. In one such case there were two courts that might have had jurisdiction to interpret the agreement of the parties, neither of which thought that it had jurisdiction over the case, so to parallel consolidated appeals had to be brought to decide which court had the authority to resolve an ambiguity in the original agreement before either court could get to the merits of the dispute between the parties. Of course, at some point, all the kids will be grown, there will be no outstanding child support amounts owed, all property will be divided, and in some cases, all alimony awards (if any) will be fully performed. Once that point in time is reached and the statute of limitations for defects in entering into the agreement has run, then no further family court litigation is allowed. For example, as part of a divorce agreement, my (soon to be) ex-spouse wants me to put money aside in escrow that my ex can use in the event that I open up a case in Family Court. The ex is paranoid that I will continue litigation, as is agreeing to certain concessions if I agree to this stipulation. When my youngest child turns 21, the escrowed money will go to me. But if I open a case before then, he wants to be able to use the escrowed money for his lawyers. Is this escrow arrangement legally enforceable? This is probably legally enforceable if it is mutually agreed to, although I've never seen a case in New York specifically addressing that issue. This is a very different question than the title question.
You don't need to "report" it to anyone in the US or do anything else. The US doesn't have any national registry of marriage. Any marriage or divorce conducted anywhere in the world is automatically recognized anywhere in the US (with some exceptions like polygamous marriages); the same is true in many other countries. How does the U.S. find out, for tax or insurance purposes? Obviously there's a little box that says [] Married but how would they know if I lied if I'm not registered in the United States? They don't, and don't need to. (The same is true for marriages in the US -- they don't directly "know".) You are required to use an appropriate filing status for your marriage status at the end of the year for each year's tax returns. If you don't, you are committing fraud. There are lots of things that you can intentionally lie about on tax returns, and they may not immediately "find out"; but when they do, you are in big trouble. Am I legally required to report it when I return? No. Would the Canadian/provincial government inform the U.S./state government? No.
This is a good question, which I am going to answer from a practical perspective, rather than a theoretical one, which would probably justify a law review article (applications of the takings clause to criminal justice fact patterns is actually one of my pet areas of legal scholarship, but a lot of it calls for dramatic changes in established practice and precedents reached from other perspectives, making it impractical to pursue in real life). I recently had a case along these lines in my office where my client's property was seized as evidence in a criminal case against a third-party. The crime involved a gun shop where all of the guns that were in the possession of the shop owner for repairs at the time of the bust (i.e. as bailments), including ours worth several thousand dollars in addition to having some sentimental value, were seized as evidence of charges against a shop owner who was fencing stolen goods, making sales to felons off the books, falsifying excise tax returns, etc. He seemed legitimate and had been in business for many years in what was not a fly by night operation. He had all of the proper licenses. Who knew we were dealing with a crook? In that case, we intervened on behalf of our client in the primary case to seek the physical return of the property (basically a replevin claim), as have others affected by the bust. It took a few months and some legal fees, but we prevailed without too much effort, as have the other intervenors. Generally speaking, to make a 5th Amendment claim, you would have to show a total taking and move into some legal gray areas in this context, while it is usually hard for authorities to show a continuing need for possession of third-party property in the face of a demand for its return, especially when photography and other scientific tools can document the evidence in great detail these days. In that case, showing that our client's particular gun was not involved in any illegitimate transaction also simultaneously made it less important as evidence, although that would not necessarily be true in general in these kinds of situations. There is a pending case in Colorado posing similar issues, where a suburban police department essentially destroyed a guy's home in order to catch a felon with no relation to the homeowner whatsoever, who had fled into it and taken refuge there. But, that case, as far as I know, has not yet been resolved on the merits.
First, agree w/Dale M re: it would be an egregious and likely career-ending move for an attorney to fake his representation. That said, there is likely no reason why you would be unable to request such proof of representation. Your job consists of protecting the assets of the trust, carrying out any other duties outlined in the trust document, being honest and in communication with the trust's beneficiary, managing the assets, and ending the trust as determined by the trust document. Several of those points (particularly the "protecting the assets" part) argue heavily in favor of your confirming the veracity of any claims involving the trust and/or the identity or true intent of those seeking any information, etc., with respect to the trust. Also, demand letters are letters stating a legal claim and usually asks for restitution or performance of an obligation. It's not entirely clear what constitutes a "demand letter requesting information" unless you have a legal duty to provide that information (and this would - or should - be stated in the demand letter itself). Finally, should you be unable to obtain the confirmation you're seeking, you should consider consulting a trust administration attorney. In most cases, you may use trust assets to pay for expert help (including tax preparers and accountants).