Fraudulent Divorce Information

[btrobin]

Regarding a divorce case, not being contested, and the statement of information finances section. Is it acceptable to either move money around prior to filling in the form to disguise or deceive your actual savings, only after the decree absolute to then reinstate them to your account, or just to blatantly lie about it.

[woofgang]

I think you know the answer to this one.....

[Buenchico]

A couple of relevant links:
https://smab.co.uk/dishonesty-in-divorce-a-warning/

https://www.stowefamilylaw.co.uk/blog/2018/10/15/dishonesty-in-divorce-the-six-red-flags-of-fraud-and-asset-hiding/

[rowanwitch]

My first husband made a false claim about low earnings. He had left bank statements behind that proved he was earning double the amount he was claiming a year previously. A quick call between solicitors and a more accurate figure came back. He was reminded that the papers he signed were a sworn statement and would be part of legal proceedings.

[Peter Pedant]

// Regarding a divorce case, not being contested,//
sounds as tho it is or will be contested

no of course you know that moving money around in this way is unlawful. You cant just say it - you have to prove it

the documents submitted to the court are subject to the usual penalties = you cant or shouldnt lie.

[EDDIE51]

NO ! NOT ACCEPTABLE ! IT IS FRAUD !

[btrobin]

Now the question of legality, which common sense would dictate that it is all illegal, has been answered. There are some complications, which I am trying to overcome, firstly this matter involved my late father in law who passed away last October at 95, so I am not named on any of the paperwork at the divorce court, who cannot really converse with me. Representation was made via his solicitor that her savings figure of £25k was bogus, we estimated it was closer to £250K, it took her 2 months to complete the statement of information, a 5 minute job, during which time we assume money was being moved around. My FIL being aged and in poor health, agreed with the request from his wife that no claim should be made on eithers savings. However the question was asked as to where her inheritance of £100K a couple of years earlier, and her pensions, which were never touched had gone, we were told that this was the savings situation, "at this moment in time", possibly true, but not possibly true some 8 weeks previously. His solicitor made representation to the court that we believed her figure to be bogus, but it was ignored and the decree absolute was finalised in Feb 2019. Now some may say that it should have been vigorously contested at the time, but hey, 94, stubborn as a mule, and suffering with COPD and the onset of undetected pancreatic cancer, who knows what he was thinking. He sadly passed away last October, an that is when the question arose, whilst making a phone call to their mutual friend to inform them of his death, she revealed that his now, ex wife, had contacted them and during the conversation let slip she had purchased a Park Home in Kent. I know of nowhere you can buy a shed in Kent for that sort of money, £25K, we have a inkling of the area but an address we do not have so cannot do a search to see when and how much it cost. I have contacted the divorce court with this information and they do not seem in the least interested, I doubt plod would be either, but at the end of the day it is fraud and should be investigated by someone. I have contacted his divorce solicitor they say they do not have the expertise, as it is now allegedly a fraud matter, private investigators want somewhere in the region of £1K to provide us with an address, it seems impossible to access the local council tax records to ascertain an address so we appear to be stumped. We are not interested in financial advantage, she can keep that, it is just the way it was all carried out, had she put her true wealth on the form, there might have been a different settlement, who knows. We just do not know where to go to get some sort of recourse to her sly behaviour, she is an expert on it all, divorced 3 times, her son, presumably her mentor, twice, it just annoys us to know they have supposedly pulled the wool over everyone's eyes and got away with it all, Any further pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[Old_Geezer]

I don't have the expertise to answer your query, but suggest, posting a massive single block of text doesn't encourage any but the most determined to read through. You might get more response if posts are split into multiple paragraphs each making a point.

[btrobin]

As much as I appreciate your contribution old geezer, I think that telling the whole story in one go, albeit rather prolonged, is necessary to enable whosoever wishes to wade through it to make suggestions based on all the content. Otherwise we get to a position where we have responses to the effect that Oh we didn't know that or you never told us that bit, unfortunately the tale is as complicated as the procedure itself.

[btrobin]

Old geezer sincere apologies misread and misunderstood hence wrong reply. Fully appreciate that paragraphs would have benefitted must try harder.