When couples are dishonest or even directly lie to each other about money, it is often referred to as financial infidelity. They may be concealing financial information, lying about transactions and much more.
For instance, one spouse may tell the other that they have not gotten a raise for years, when the reality is that they have received numerous raises, but they have been putting the money aside in an undisclosed personal bank account. Or someone may use shared funds to make a major purchase, but they lie about how much they spent or where they got the money. Things like this are more common when one spouse handles the bulk of the financial transactions and the other takes a more hands-off role.
2 reasons for divorce
In some cases, financial infidelity can lead to divorce simply because it causes a lot of stress. If one partner is recklessly spending marital funds that the other thought were being saved or set aside, they may suddenly find themselves facing unexpected debt. Maybe their partner was fueling a gambling addiction, for example, and now the couple does not have enough money to pay the mortgage.
But even when people can still make ends meet, dishonesty over financial transactions can undermine the trust that the couple has in one another. They may start to question other things they have been told by their partner, or they may never be able to trust each other again when it comes to their financial resources. This causes a rift to form between the partners that can cause their relationship to deteriorate over time.
When couples do get divorced, financial infidelity can make the property division process very complicated, so it is important for them to understand what legal options they have.