Real-life Tax-Related Financial Infidelity Case #4— Tax Return Warns of Impending Divorce

Information on Dorothy’s joint tax return warned her of an impending divorce, but she failed to act in time.

Any money discrepancies or financial irregularities on your joint tax return and associated documents should be addressed right away.

If you’re reluctant to ask your spouse about what you find, seek professional advice before it’s too late.

This type of financial infidelity is usually the first warning of an imminent divorce.

NOTE: The tax-related financial infidelity account below is taken from infidelity interviews in case files compiled while researching my first infidelity book almost 20 years ago. Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

In the account below, Dorothy found information on her joint income tax return indicating that her husband was secretly planning to divorce her.

Unfortunately Dorothy failed to act on the information she found.

Alerted about Missing Money on Their Joint Tax Return

Seeing figures on their joint tax return indicating that penalties had been incurred for early withdrawal of funds from their CD (Certificate of Deposit) accounts made Dorothy suspicious.

Her growing unease prompted her to discreetly check the balance on some of their other joint accounts.

Much to Dorothy’s dismay, over 2/3 of the money was missing. Yet Craig had never mentioned anything to her about withdrawing funds.

Although Dorothy was very concerned about why the money was missing and wanted to know what Craig had used it for, she was reluctant to ask.

Rather than cause an argument, she said nothing; deciding to give Craig the benefit of the doubt.

Sign of an Impending Divorce

This turned out to be a big mistake.

Six months later Craig left Dorothy for another woman and filed for divorce.

This sudden and totally unexpected turn of events not only shocked Dorothy, but also left her emotionally and financially devastated, and legally unprepared.

While researching my first infidelity book many years ago, I found that Dorothy’s situation was not uncommon.

My files contain numerous cases where, in preparation for a surprise divorce, cheating wives or husbands start moving money around, surreptitiously siphoning off funds from joint accounts, or liquidating assets behind an unsuspecting spouse’s back.

Get Immediate Professional Advice

As soon as Dorothy realized money was missing from their other joint accounts, she should have recognized her husband’s financial infidelity for what it was: a warning sign of things to come.

Since financial infidelity often accompanies sexual infidelity, instead of sitting back and saying nothing, Dorothy should have immediately sought financial and /or legal advice.

Six months was more than enough advance warning for Dorothy to have put some safeguards in place to protect herself legally and financially from the impending divorce.

Instead of putting protective measures in place, Dorothy did nothing, and ended up being caught completely off guard.

There are multiple places on your joint income tax form, attached schedules, and supporting documents that can alert you to financial infidelity.

Check everything carefully so if there’s something amiss, you won’t be the last to know.

Remember: Forewarned is forearmed.

Don’t let what happened to Dorothy, happen to you.

Over the next few days, I’ll be posting more tax-related articles with the following information:

✅ More real-life accounts of tax-related financial infidelity from my case files

✅ Tips on where to look on your joint tax return and associated documents for signs of infidelity

✅ Oher signs of financial infidelity.

✅ Ways to avoid financial infidelity

✅ Financial infidelity and divorce

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Meanwhile, check out the tax-related financial infidelity / sexual infidelity articles below: