What to do if the value of a business was misrepresented during a divorce?

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What to do if the value of a business was misrepresented during a divorce?

My wife went through a divorce a few years ago in which she was VP of a company with her then husband as the president. He had an accountant attest that the company wasn’t making money. He then closed that company and reopened it under a different name and put his dad as president. The company kept the same offices, staff, clients and never stopped business for a day. Does my wife have any grounds to take him to court over this right now she got screwed in this divorce- left bankrupt, homeless and jobless while he kept the home and business they had both built together?

Asked on February 10, 2012 under Family Law, Oklahoma

Answers:

MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

It sounds like he either cooked the books or hid assets. If this has not been too long since the divorce/name change of the business and if the business still has the same clientelle, she should go back to court and seek a contempt order or file fraud charges and ask that she get all of the business assets now since he fraudulently hid them from her. Here is the issue, though. As Vice President, she was also in a position to know how profitable the company was and the court may need a full forensic accounting at her cost of both businesses to see what she may be entitiled to in the amended divorce decree (which is what she needs to file).


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