Unbeknownst to many, the easiest asset to hide is actually a bank account. It is important to note that there is no existing central database today that keeps bank account records of everyone in the country. As a result of this, locating hidden assets was extremely difficult and controversial up until 1999, when regulations were put in place to ensure that this was not the case anymore. Here at International Investigative Group, we have a team of professional private investigators who specialize in locating hidden assets for any case you might encounter.
What are some Common Hidden Assets?
Hidden assets can also come in other forms such as property and even vehicles. Under some circumstances such as a lawsuit which might threaten to seize an individual’s assets, people might try to transfer the ownership of these assets to other people to prevent seizure. The most common places to hide your assets are under different aliases, with close family members, in life insurance policies, bonds, vehicles and investments.
Investigating Tax Returns
It cannot be denied that a large percentage of Americans own more than one bank account or insurance policy. Therefore, a person’s tax returns are a good place to gather information about bank accounts and other forms of investments. In order to retrieve this information however, a subpoena is needed to give you the access that you require.
Real Estate vs. Cash Transactions
It is usually easier for most investigators to track fraudulent conveyance of property and real estate in comparison to cash transactions. This is because for real estate transactions, investigators can easily find out who the buyers and sellers are by searching online or at the state’s deeds office. Usually when investigating real estate assets, the date of the transfer of title or ownership is important. The closer the transfer is to the date of a bankruptcy filing or oversight, the higher the probability of a fraudulent conveyance.
The Debtor’s Examination
In the process of the debtor’s examination, it is your legal right to demand information from your debtor about where their bank account is located. Although this might seem like a convenient idea, there are certain drawbacks to it. For example, if you demand that they reveal this information, the debtor can quickly transfer money out from that account before you can even get close to it. Therefore, if you happen to locate a bank account that contains some money, it might be a more viable option to retrieve database records that are available at the bank.
Acquiring Hidden Assets Via The Turnover Order
Essentially, this procedure allows you to order your debtor to turn over any non-exempt property which they might own to the judgement holder. As such, the judgement holder would be able to better retrieve available assets in the case where a debtor’s property cannot be seized using normal legal procedures. This is usually done as a last option to satisfy the given judgement but does not require any post-judgement remedies by the judgement holder before executing it.
