Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky
I suspect my wife of opening new accounts and hiding them during her 6-20 month affair and/or possibly misusing our marital finances to pay for vacations and hotel rooms that she shared with her lover. We have no kids and the divorce filing documents in Kentucky only require that account balances be disclosed (based on a date chosen for the financial snapshot) and statements from the prior month be disclosed.
However, I would like to require her to turn over all of her bank statements, investment statements, pay stubs, and credit cards statements for the past 20 months. In exchange, to be fair, I have already assembled mine to be swapped.
- I see this as a fair request as it is only asking both parties to be open and honest, and I would think this is a common request in a divorce, is that the case?
- Will there simply be a subpoena sent to her for the documents?
- Will there be much trouble getting this approved?
- Could there be any way she and her attorney could prevent her from disclosing this?
- If she has moved money, but won't disclose the account, or if she has spent money on trips with her lover, what can be done? If a forensic accountant is needed, what are typical costs?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
1 Answer from Attorneys
A subpoena can be sent for the documents and this is not an unreasonable request (you would need to allege that she has spent money during the marriage that was not appropriately spent). It can cost money to get the documents- copy charges, research fees, but there should be no impediment to her stopping it otherwise. If she has moved money and there is no way to tell where she moved it, it would be difficult to find unless she has an account at another bank which a subpoena would locate. A forensic accountant could costs several thousands of dollars especially if you do not have that person on a specific task with limited goals (which is hard to do) and there would no guarantee to get this money back.
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