What is financial infidelity?

On Behalf of | Dec 1, 2021 | Family Law, property division | 0 comments

When most people think about infidelity in divorce, it often ties to the state of a couple’s interpersonal relationship and involves the possibility of cheating on one’s spouse with another person. However, infidelity can come in many forms, including financial.

Financial infidelity can start well before a divorce and actually contribute to it occurring. It can also start as a response to an anticipated or planned divorce. Whatever the case, financial infidelity causes more than just minor issues.

Common forms of financial infidelity

NBC News takes a look into financial infidelity and other similar or related issues tied into divorce. In a common form, financial infidelity involves one spouse hiding their money or other assets from the other. If this behavior does not start until the divorce itself, it is often due to the perpetrator wishing to keep some of their money or assets out of the property and asset division that will inevitably occur.

Another form of financial infidelity comes in the shape of debt. A spouse may rack up debt without the knowledge of their partner, and if this debt ends up classified as joint debt, then both spouses will have to pay even if one had nothing to do with it.

Is this problem worsening?

Unfortunately, financial infidelity seems to be on the rise, with millennials in particular seeing higher rates of financial infidelity than older generations before them. According to CreditCards.com, 4 in 10 people have admitted to hiding some form of assets from their partner.

The reveal of financial infidelity can open a floodgate of questions about a spouse’s intentions and honesty, though. This is part of what makes it such a huge issue, and often the catalyst for a divorce.