What To Do If Your Attorney Spouse Is Hiding Money or Controlling the Divorce

By Matthew C. Clawson, JD, MBA | Colorado High Asset Divorce Attorney

Matthew represents high asset divorce clients throughout Colorado. Our practice regions include Colorado Springs, Pueblo, the Denver Metro area, Castle Rock, Lone Tree, Douglas County, El Paso County, Jefferson County, Arapahoe County, Adams County, Boulder County, Monument, Falcon, Fountain, and Woodland Park.

Divorcing an attorney spouse creates a unique risk environment. Lawyers understand how to control information, how to use legal procedures to their advantage, and how to position themselves as the knowledgeable and dominant party. If your spouse is also the one who handled the finances during the marriage, the combination can lead to hidden assets, restricted access to information, and attempts to pressure you into an unfair agreement.

Colorado law provides strong tools to protect you. The key is knowing what to look for and taking action before evidence disappears or your spouse builds unfair leverage.

This guide explains warning signs, legal remedies, and practical steps to take immediately if your attorney spouse is hiding money or trying to control the divorce.

Warning Signs That Your Attorney Spouse Is Hiding Money

Spouses who practice law understand how to create artificial complexity or confuse the other spouse. Common red flags include:

Sudden secrecy with financial accounts.
If passwords change or access to shared accounts quietly disappears, assume there is a reason.

Unexplained withdrawals or transfers.
Look for cash movements into business accounts, law firm accounts, trust accounts, or newly created credit cards.

Manipulated income or bonuses.
Lawyers can delay distributions from a firm or claim the firm is holding funds for taxes or operating expenses.

Pressuring you to sign agreements without counsel.
Your spouse may claim that documents are standard or that hiring your own attorney is unnecessary.

Using legal threats or intimidation.
Statements like “the court will not give you anything” or “you cannot ask for discovery” are designed to scare, not inform.

Refusing to turn over tax returns, business financials, or trust documents.
Withholding documents is one of the most common ways attorney spouses try to control outcomes.

Colorado Law Requires Full Disclosure

Colorado is a mandatory disclosure state. Under C.R.C.P. 16.2, both spouses must provide complete and honest financial disclosure at the start of the case. The duty is affirmative and ongoing.

Your attorney spouse does not get to choose what to disclose or when to disclose it. Any failure to produce information can result in:

• Sanctions
• Attorney fee awards
• Adverse inferences
• Reopened property division
• Contempt findings

Colorado courts expect attorney spouses to know better and hold them to a higher standard. Their attempt to hide information can become your advantage.

Steps to Take Immediately

1. Gather and save all financial documents you can access

If you still have access to any of the following, copy them now:

• Tax returns
• Bank statements
• Credit card statements
• Investment accounts
• Trust documents
• Retirement statements
• Business financials
• Law firm compensation statements
• Loan applications
• Pay stubs
• Insurance summaries

Once the divorce begins, access may disappear.

2. Hire your own attorney right away

Never allow your attorney spouse to:

• Explain your legal rights
• Draft agreements for you
• Tell you what the court will or will not do
• Control the timeline
• Choose the mediator

You need your own lawyer who understands high asset cases and hidden asset detection.

3. Request formal disclosures immediately after filing

Your attorney will issue:

• Mandatory disclosures
• Requests for production
• Interrogatories
• Subpoenas for bank and business records
• A sworn financial statement

If your spouse refuses to comply, the court can intervene early.

4. Consider subpoenas to law firms, accountants, and financial institutions

Attorney spouses often try to hide money in:

• Firm retained earnings
• Deferred distributions
• Owner draws
• Trust accounts
• “Tax reserve” accounts
• Business credit cards
• Professional corporations or LLCs
• Side consulting income

Third-party records are often more reliable than documents your spouse produces.

5. Ask the court for temporary orders if control is being abused

Temporary orders can require:

• Financial support while the case is pending
• Access to marital funds
• Continued payment of household bills
• Restraining orders preventing dissipation of assets
• Orders to maintain the financial status quo
• Exclusive use of the home
• Attorney fee contributions

The court can stop an attorney spouse from using financial power as leverage.

6. Use forensic accountants when assets are complex

A forensic accountant can trace:

• Unusual withdrawals
• Unreported cash
• Hidden accounts
• Cryptocurrency holdings
• Transfers to relatives
• Business income manipulation
• Trust distributions
• Shell companies
• Deferred bonuses

In high asset divorces, this can dramatically change the division of property.

How Colorado Courts View Attorney Spouses Who Hide Money

Colorado judges are familiar with financial manipulation and control tactics. When the spouse engaging in wrongdoing is also a lawyer, the court is even less tolerant. Judges expect lawyers to act with integrity during disclosure.

Consequences for hiding money include:

• Awarding the innocent spouse a larger share of marital property
• Ordering repayment of hidden funds
• Sanctions
• Contempt
• A reopened property division, even years later
• Damage to the attorney spouse’s credibility for parenting disputes

The law favors the spouse who acts transparently.

If You Are Being Controlled or Intimidated

Legal knowledge is not the same as legal authority. Your spouse does not have the power to:

• Decide what you are entitled to
• Block you from accessing documents
• Control who you hire
• Threaten you into signing documents
• Prevent you from asking for discovery
• Decide whether you get support
• Dictate parenting arrangements

You have rights. Colorado courts will enforce them.

If your spouse is using legal threats, belittling your concerns, or attempting to isolate you from information, this is a sign of financial control. Your attorney can intercept communication and stop the manipulation cycle immediately.

Why You Should Choose Matthew C. Clawson and Clawson and Clawson LLP

Divorcing an attorney spouse is not a standard family law case. You need a lawyer who understands how attorneys hide assets, delay disclosures, manipulate law firm compensation, and control financial information. You also need someone who is not intimidated by an attorney on the other side.

Matthew C. Clawson, JD, MBA has built his reputation on representing clients in the most complex and sensitive high asset divorce cases across Colorado. He frequently handles divorces involving attorneys, CPAs, physicians, business owners, military officers, and professionals with sophisticated financial structures. These cases include tracing hidden funds, compelling full disclosure, exposing manipulation of income, and protecting clients from financial control and intimidation.

Clients trust Matthew because:

You get immediate protection from financial control.

We file fast, secure temporary orders, and stop your spouse from cutting off access to funds or documents.

You receive aggressive discovery and forensic financial tracing.

We subpoena law firm records, accountants, trust documents, business entities, and financial institutions to uncover hidden accounts, deferred distributions, and disguised income.

You gain a strategic advantage against an attorney spouse.

Matthew understands legal tactics, procedural games, and intimidation attempts because he deals with them every day.

You always know what is happening.

We explain every step of the process in plain language so your spouse cannot use legal knowledge to confuse or pressure you.

You get strong court advocacy.

If your spouse hides money or refuses disclosure, we seek sanctions, attorney fees, and corrective court orders.

You get your power back.

Our goal is to shift control away from your attorney spouse and put it back where it belongs, with you.

Conclusion: You Do Not Have to Face a Controlling Attorney Spouse Alone

If your attorney spouse is hiding money or controlling the divorce, strategic action is critical. With the right legal team, you can stop the financial manipulation, uncover hidden assets, and level the playing field.

Clawson and Clawson LLP represents spouses throughout Colorado in high asset and complex divorce cases involving attorneys, business owners, physicians, CPAs, military members, and professionals with advanced financial knowledge.

For more information about our top-rated legal services, fill out our online form or call (719) 602-5888 to schedule a free initial consultation.