Red Flags in Divorce Cases

1. Separating Mobile Phone Bills: This happens all the time, but why? Why would a spouse suddenly decide she needed to have her own mobile phone plan? Why would he coincidentally get a new phone “just for work?” While not always significant, changing one spouse’s access to information about the other’s personal phone is a tip off that something is going on.

2. Transferring Any Assets to Family Members: “I needed to pay my brother back for something, so I gave him the title to my motorcycle and the boat.” Maybe. This sort of transfer, even if wholly legitimate, looks like a spouse squirreling away assets for post-divorce enjoyment.

3. Sudden Changes in Children’s Routines: “Since when do you always take the children to school in the mornings?” Sometimes, the spouse who becomes eager to help out with the children is just doing the right thing. Sometimes, though, especially when a major change in routine arises when there is marital discord, this change in routine could be a subtle (but potentially very effective) angle for custody.

4. Lifestyle Changes: I always ask whether either spouse has recently begun going to the gym with any frequency. The gym is second to the workplace and the internet for meeting people outside the marriage. Is your spouse suddenly obsessed with CrossFit and its early morning rendezvous? Just trying to lose a little weight and loving the 8pm fitness class? Right.

5. Unfounded Accusations of Infidelity: Misdirection is the skill of every magician. “Yes, I just got home from the gym, and yes, I have a passcoded phone that is just for work, but you seemed awfully cozy with the kids’ coach this afternoon. You’re flirting with him, aren’t you?”