How to Locate Hidden Assets

When an individual or a company wishes to avoid being exposed to the possibility of paying out money for judgments resulting from a lawsuit or in personal matters such as alimony or child support, it is not uncommon for substantial assets to be hidden in a variety of ways. This part of the report on locating hidden assets details the manner in which assets can be camouflaged or totally concealed.

Any type of asset can be hidden, including real property, jewelry, stocks, bonds, vehicles, pleasure craft and the most liquid of all assets - money. When an asset is moved or transferred with the intention to defraud, hinder or delay discovery by anyone classified as a creditor, it is then considered to be a hidden asset. The most difficult of all hidden assets to reach are those that are placed outside of the country in what are called offshore accounts. Certain countries such as the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Switzerland are known for their discretionary banking laws in which secrecy rules. These countries do not recognize claims made against assets through courts in other nations.

WHAT KINDS OF ASSETS ARE HIDDEN

Most hidden assets are of the liquid variety - bank accounts, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. In most instances liquid assets are transferred into the name of a spouse, other relative, friend or business entity

Liquid assets can also be hidden by placing them into safety deposit boxes in the names of relatives or friends or an alias. Another method for hiding cash is to convert it into traveler's checks, savings bonds or stockbroker accounts. Still another method of ridding oneself of cash, but still retaining the value, is to use the liquid asset to pay down a mortgage, overpay the IRS, or pay down credit card balances.

Sometimes a liquid asset is converted into personal property such as works of art, collectibles or antiques. Unless those items are hidden, they can be attached as part of an award in a court ordered judgment, but collection of the property can be difficult to accomplish.

Real property, vehicles, boats, planes and other so-called "personal toys" can also be hidden for the same reasons as liquid assets. When facing a lawsuit, which could lead to a judgment, many people attempt to hide these forms of property by transferring ownership and title to the property to another person or entity.

HOW ASSETS ARE HIDDEN

In this section, the various methods for hiding assets are detailed. But it is important to remember that when starting any asset search, the obvious should not be overlooked. A basic background check will help to uncover the use of an alias or the use of multiple social security numbers. In addition, the names of relatives and business associates are often revealed through a background search.

Hiding Assets Under Someone Else's Name - This is the most commonly used ploy for creating the illusion that those assets are not in one's possession. When a transaction takes place between a subject and spouse or in-laws and the date is close to the date of a loan default or bankruptcy, a red flag of suspicion is raised quite easily.

Placing property in the name of a spouse or other family members can often have a negative impact upon one's financial security.

Trust Funds - The most sophisticated asset-hiding method is to transfer property into living trusts or offshore trust accounts. Many of these type transfers are legitimate; thus it is important to look at such trusts in relationship to the individual's overall asset/debt ratio. When transfers to these type trusts are made to deliberately avoid payment of debtors or litigants, they are referred to as "preferential" or "fraudulent" transfers. If it can be shown that such transfers were made in anticipation of or during litigation or bankruptcy, they can be reversed under the laws of most states.

Read entire article: http://howtoinvestigate.com/articles/basic_background_check.htm

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Online database information providers have experience with the intricacies of accessing public records. They are capable of conducting all or a part of one's asset search. This saves one from the time-consuming process of conducting document searches. But when engaging the services of such a provider, ask about the scope and area of their coverage, their techniques for retrieving data, their fees and the method of payment required.

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