Having the right lawyer can help prevent divorce fraud

Almost all divorces in Tennessee involve some degree of stress, and some involve a very high degree of stress. For some couples, solving issues regarding parenting, such as physical custody and visitation, can be especially difficult. For others, alimony can be problematic. Couples with a high net worth will spend far more time and energy on property division and valuation than will couples of modest means. One of the problems faced by spouses in a high asset divorce is ensuring that the other spouse makes a full and accurate disclosure of assets and income.

Tennessee law requires each spouse to make a full disclosure of marital assets, non-marital assets, income, and debts. When a divorcing spouse signs answers to interrogatories from the other spouse or provides oral testimony in a deposition, he or she is testifying under oath that the information contained in the interrogatories or deposition testimony is true and correct. A knowing misstatement or omission is the equivalent of perjury.

But even the prospect of a conviction for perjury is not always a sufficient deterrent to fraud. Perjury convictions are rare occurrences, and even if one spouse succeeds in proving the other spouse lied, the criminal penalties will have little or no effect on the outcome of the property division.

The most effect method of preventing fraud in a divorce case is to retain an experienced divorce attorney who understands the various methods that can be used to hide assets and income and inflate debt. Judy Oxford in Williamson County is just such a lawyer. Ms. Oxford has practiced family law for more than twenty years with an unyielding commitment to aggressive and ethical representation. She has dealt with and defeated all kinds of fraudulent gambits used to unfairly and illegally affect the division of marital property. Ms. Oxford can be depended upon to use all available means to ensure that her clients receive the most beneficial property settlement permitted by Tennessee law.