What Can I Do If My Spouse Hides Bank Accounts or Financial Records During Divorce?

The statements stopped coming to the house. A paycheck that used to land in the joint account now goes somewhere else. When you ask, you get a shrug or a lecture about how it is none of your business.

It is your business, and Washington gives you ways to prove it. Spouses owe each other a duty to disclose what they have, each side in a divorce can be made to answer questions and produce records under oath through the Superior Court Civil Rules, banks can be subpoenaed directly under Civil Rule 45, and a judge can restrain a spouse from moving or concealing property under RCW 26.09.060. If the concealment is proved, the court may weigh it when dividing property under RCW 26.09.080.

Does My Spouse Have to Tell Me What They Have?

Part of the problem starts with how community property works. Under RCW 26.16.030, either spouse acting alone may manage and control community property. That is why one spouse can open an account, move money, or run the household finances without the other ever seeing a statement.

That management power comes with a duty. In Seals v. Seals, 22 Wn. App. 652 (1979), a husband left bank and escrow accounts and corporate stock out of his divorce disclosures. The Court of Appeals held that a spouse's fiduciary duty "does not cease upon contemplation of the dissolution of a marriage," and it upheld a judgment giving the wife about half of the undisclosed property, with interest and attorney fees.

In the divorce itself, disclosure starts with the Financial Declaration, form FL All Family 131. It lists income, expenses, cash and account balances, and debts, and it is signed under penalty of perjury. The state motion form for temporary orders tells anyone asking for an order involving money to file a Financial Declaration along with supporting financial records.

Discovery: Making Your Spouse Answer Under Oath

A financial declaration is a summary. Discovery tests it. Civil Rule 26 allows each side to obtain information about any matter that is not privileged and is relevant to the subject of the case, and in a divorce the accounts, assets, and debts of both spouses qualify.

Two written tools do most of the work. Under Civil Rule 33, you can send interrogatories, which are written questions the other side must answer in writing and under oath, generally within 30 days. Under Civil Rule 34, you can require your spouse to produce documents and electronically stored information in their possession, custody, or control, also generally within 30 days. Civil Rule 26(e) requires correction of answers known to have been incorrect, and of answers that are no longer true when silence would amount to knowing concealment. It also requires supplementation in specified categories, and a court order, agreement, or later discovery request may impose additional duties.

Going Around Your Spouse: Subpoenas to Banks and Employers

You are not limited to what your spouse chooses to hand over. Civil Rule 45 allows a subpoena that commands a person who is not a party to the case, such as a bank, brokerage, credit union, or employer, to produce records. An attorney of record can issue one. For a records-only subpoena, the rule requires that every party receive notice at least five days before it is served, and the recipient generally has 14 days to object in writing.

The leads usually come from records you already have: a joint statement showing transfers to an unfamiliar account, a tax return listing interest from a bank you have never heard of, or a pay stub with a split direct deposit.

What If My Spouse Still Refuses?

Under Civil Rule 37, you can ask the court for an order compelling answers. The court generally awards reasonable motion expenses, including attorney fees, against the losing side unless the position was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award unjust. If your spouse then disobeys the order, the court can treat the disputed facts as established in your favor, bar your spouse from offering evidence on the issue, strike pleadings or enter a default, or hold your spouse in contempt.

Can the Court Freeze Accounts While the Case Is Pending?

Washington's divorce statutes do not freeze anything automatically when a case is filed. Under RCW 26.09.060, either spouse may ask for a temporary restraining order that bars the other from transferring, removing, encumbering, concealing, or disposing of any property except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life. The court can also require the restrained spouse to report any extraordinary spending. An order can be issued without advance notice only if the court finds that irreparable injury could result from waiting.

Snohomish County goes further by local rule. Under SCLSPR 94.04(b), when a summons and petition for divorce or legal separation are filed in Snohomish County Superior Court, the court automatically issues a temporary order. It restrains both spouses from transferring, removing, encumbering, concealing, damaging, or disposing of any property except in the usual course of business, for the necessities of life, or as agreed in writing, and it requires each to notify the other of any extraordinary expenditure. It also gives both spouses access to all tax, financial, legal, and household records. The petitioner is responsible for serving the order. Added restraints are often requested together with temporary support, which is covered in the article on temporary support during divorce.

How Does Hiding Assets Affect the Property Division?

RCW 26.09.080 tells the court to divide property and debts in a way that is just and equitable, "without regard to misconduct." That phrase does not protect financial games. In In re Marriage of Wallace, 111 Wn. App. 697 (2002), the Court of Appeals said a trial court dividing property may properly consider a spouse's waste or concealment of assets. No particular result is guaranteed, but a judge who concludes that one spouse hid money has room to account for it. The general framework is explained in how property is divided in a Snohomish County divorce and in the article on whether Washington is a 50/50 divorce state.

What If I Find the Account After the Divorce Is Final?

Civil Rule 60(b) allows a court to reopen a judgment for, among other reasons, fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of the opposing party. The motion must be made within a reasonable time, and a motion based on mistake or newly discovered evidence must be made within one year.

A Worked Example

Hannah files for divorce in Snohomish County. Her husband Greg's Financial Declaration lists one checking account. Hannah's attorney sends interrogatories and a request for production, and the joint account statements show monthly transfers to an account at a credit union Greg never mentioned. A subpoena to the credit union returns statements showing a five-figure balance built up during the marriage. Hannah now has what she needs to ask the court to enforce its automatic temporary order, to seek added restraints under RCW 26.09.060, and to argue at trial that the concealment should count in the division under RCW 26.09.080.

Do Not Guess About Missing Money

Suspicion is not evidence, and the tools that turn one into the other have deadlines and procedures attached. If you believe your spouse is hiding accounts, income, or records, the Law Office of Chad Foster can help you use disclosure, discovery, and court orders to find out. Call 425.785.8679 to talk with a Snohomish County family law attorney.