Portland, OR asked in Divorce and Family Law for Oregon

Q: Is it a criminal offense to not give money that was court ordered to your spouse?

Say a judge in a divorce case states you must sell a property and pay half to your spouse. Instead the husband takes it out of the trust, sells the property and buys another home in another state and hides it under another trust. I have judgements for all this money he owes but dont know how to track it down. Want to know if he could go to jail for this offense of taking my money and hiding it? Its seems like a criminal act.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Ben F Meek III
Ben F Meek III
Answered

A: I'm re-categorizing this as Divorce, as it relates to the divorce decree and the separation of property ordered therein.

An experienced divorce lawyer can help with asset tracking issues. The short answer to your question is that it is probably not a criminal matter but is an indirect contempt of court, which can be punishable by jail time under certain circumstances. That remedy is less helpful to you than getting the assets. You need an experienced lawyer that can help you track the assets. Good luck to you.

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