This is an area where the laws differ substantially from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. To know what options may be available to you in your jurisdiction, you need to consult with an attorney licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction. I can only comment on the law of the jurisdiction where I am licensed to practice divorce and family law (Utah).
If this were a question that rose in the context of a Utah divorce, Utah Rules of Civil Procedure 26.1(f) provides as follows:
(f) Sanctions. Failure to fully disclose all assets and income in the Financial Declaration and attachments may subject the non-disclosing party to sanctions under Rule 37 including an award of non-disclosed assets to the other party, attorney’s fees or other sanctions deemed appropriate by the court.
Whether Rule 26.1(f) is applicable in a case of post-divorce discovery of hidden assets I do not know (I could not find any caselaw for the idea). Other means by which one might recover hidden assets from an ex-spouse post-divorce include a claim for conversion or fraud.
This is why Utah Rules of Civil Procedure 60 provides, in pertinent part:
- b) Mistakes; inadvertence; excusable neglect; newly discovered evidence; fraud, etc. On motion and upon just terms, the court may relieve a party or its legal representative from a judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons:
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(b)(3) fraud (whether previously called intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation or other misconduct of an opposing party;
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(d) Other power to grant relief. This rule does not limit the power of a court to entertain an independent action to relieve a party from a judgment, order or proceeding or to set aside a judgment for fraud upon the court. The procedure for obtaining any relief from a judgment shall be by motion as prescribed in these rules or by an independent action.
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277
