Legal Question in Family Law in California
Im in the process of obtaining a divorce from my wife, and I recently received copies of her initial and final debt and asset disclosure. Was perjury committed when she failed to disclose known bank accounts when asked for on the form? She included no checking or savings account information which I know for a fact she holds. The only information she included was credit card debt and the mortgage debt (on top of the standard list of household furnishings etc). I am fairly certain the account(s) not disclosed were opened before I filed for dissolution. Was perjury committed? And what is the burden of proof requirements? And does it matter whether or not the account(s) were opened before or after the initial filing for dissolution?
1 Answer from Attorneys
It was probably technically perjury, but the likelyhood of getting a DA interested, much less getting a conviction is almost nil, since she can always say she didn't understand or it was some other kind of mistake. The good news, however, is that it will not be appreciated by the family law judge. They don't like it when people don't disclose assets, even just by being sloppy. It doesn't matter at all when the accounts were opened.