A previous post on this blog discussed warning signs a Rockford Illinois, resident who is going through a divorce, legal separation or even the breakup of a non-marital union should look for if he or she is at all concerned if the person’s spouse or companion is trying to deceive him or her with respect to financial affairs or property.
The next question a person might ask, assuming they discover financial deception is afoot, is what he or she can do about it, assuming of course that calling the authorities is not an option. After all, someone who is willing to hide assets or siphon off wealth to friendly parties, like relatives, in the hopes of getting back after a separation are undermining the justice system and hurting not only the person who helped acquire that property but quite possibly the parties’ children as well.
If a prenuptial agreement is in play, then a discovery a financial deception may mean the victim can ask the court simply to ignore the agreement on that basis and divide the property as the court would in the absence of an agreement.
Likewise, in Illinois, since a divorce decree or decree of legal separation are both judgments of the court, then a person can for good reasons, including fraud and misrepresentation, ask the court to go back and change its orders.
Finally, a person may want to take the route of asking for a post-divorce modification. Although this route might not give complete relief, it can at least get a person additional alimony payments and do so without requiring the person to prove a fraud or misrepresentation.