What are Hidden Assets?

An asset is anything that has value or can generate value, whether tangible or not, and that someone can convert into cash. Real estate, vehicles, stocks, bonds, life insurance policies, and business equity all count as assets.

Hidden assets are simply these same items, withheld or kept secret from public knowledge. The act of hiding them isn’t necessarily the issue. What matters is the reason behind it.

Individuals and businesses hide assets for several reasons. Here are two of the most common.

Divorce and Child Support

Divorce proceedings can get messy. When one or both parties refuse to negotiate, the division of assets can turn into an all-out war. One party may want to prevent their spouse from accessing what they consider personal assets, and they may go to great lengths to keep those assets hidden.

This keeps the assets off the list of properties the couple must divide. It also lets a spouse downplay their net worth, so the court believes they have far less than they actually do.

This tactic can affect more than just property division. It can also affect alimony and child support obligations. Courts base these judgments largely on what each party has. By hiding assets, a spouse can avoid paying more than they want to.

A skilled, knowledgeable asset investigator in CA can still find even the best-hidden assets and bring them to light.

Debt Payment

An individual or business entity may file for bankruptcy. Once they do, creditors have limited power to collect payment from the debtor. An asset investigation in CA can uncover the truth behind the bankruptcy, because the bankruptcy isn’t always genuine.

Some debtors use bankruptcy simply to dodge their obligations. They might transfer funds to another organization with only vague, hard-to-trace connections to them. Others claiming bankruptcy will “repay” a loan from a friend or acquaintance, when in reality, that money is just sitting safely out of reach. Once the investigation ends, they retrieve the funds from the friend who held them.

Reputable agencies that conduct asset searches in California can still uncover these connections, no matter how deep or vague they run.

Why Hire a Private Investigator

If you need a California asset search, hire a California private investigator. Their skills and field expertise let them follow clues, connect people to companies and assets, and find the answers you need.

Conducting an asset search in Los Angeles on your own will only exhaust you and eat up your time. You may not even get the results you want, because you won’t know where to start.

You’ll need to find the right people who can give you the information you need. You’ll also need to know what kinds of assets to look for and where to find them. On top of that, you’ll need to set a feasible, realistic scope for your investigation — and handle several other tasks besides.

A professional agency like Able Legal Investigations can handle all of this for you. Given the situation and what you can realistically manage on your own, this is your best option.