Excerpt: If your ex's income or assets don't add up, disclosure, subpoenas and financial records can help uncover the true financial position.
You have separated and are trying to work out a property settlement.
Your former partner says they earn very little, but you know they regularly receive cash.
Money appears to be leaving Australian bank accounts and being transferred overseas.
Their declared income does not seem consistent with their lifestyle.
Or money that existed during the relationship suddenly seems to have disappeared.
These situations can make a property settlement particularly difficult because you cannot negotiate fairly if you do not know the true financial position.
The good news is that you do not necessarily have to prove where every dollar is before taking action.
Family law imposes significant disclosure obligations, and there are legal processes available to investigate financial circumstances where the documents provided do not tell the whole story.
Both parties to a family law property matter have a duty to provide full and frank disclosure of their financial circumstances.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia explains the duty of disclosure, including the requirement to disclose information and documents relevant to the financial issues in dispute.
Since 10 June 2025, the duty is also expressly set out in the Family Law Act 1975, including section 71B for married couples and section 90RI for de facto relationships.
If you believe your former partner is earning undeclared cash, transferring money overseas or otherwise failing to disclose their true financial position, the first step is usually to identify the gaps and seek targeted disclosure.
Depending on the case, further investigation can include bank statements, business records, tax records, company and trust documents, subpoenas, specific questions and forensic accounting.
The aim is not to speculate about where money might be.
It is to follow the evidence.
Yes.
The duty of disclosure in a family law property matter is broad.
The Court's duty of disclosure guidance explains that parties must provide information relevant to the issues in the case, including information contained in documents that the other party may not know exist.
In financial and property matters, disclosure extends to a person's total direct and indirect financial circumstances.
That can include:
The obligation is not limited to assets held in someone's personal name.
The Court's guidance specifically recognises that disclosure can extend to earnings paid or assigned to another person and interests in property held through structures such as companies and trusts.
Cash income can make disclosure more difficult.
There may not be a simple payslip showing exactly what the person earns.
That does not mean cash income is invisible.
Suppose your former partner operates a business and declares an income of $55,000 a year.
You know that customers regularly pay cash. During the relationship, the household spending was considerably higher than $55,000 would ordinarily support.
After separation, your former partner continues paying a substantial mortgage, drives an expensive vehicle, travels regularly and appears to meet expenses that do not fit comfortably within the income being disclosed.
None of those facts, by itself, proves a particular amount of undeclared income.
Taken together, however, they may justify closer examination of the financial evidence.
The investigation depends on the type of business and the evidence available.
It may involve looking beyond a tax return.
Relevant material might include:
Patterns can matter.
For example, repeated cash deposits, personal expenses being paid through a company or unexplained differences between reported income and expenditure may justify further investigation.
The purpose is not to assume that every cash transaction is improper.
It is to determine whether the financial disclosure accurately reflects the person's true circumstances.
An overseas transfer does not automatically mean someone is hiding assets.
There can be legitimate reasons for sending money overseas.
The important questions are:
Where did the money go?
Who received it?
Why was it transferred?
What happened to it afterwards?
And does your former partner retain any interest in or control over it?
If significant funds have been transferred overseas, disclosure may need to include evidence identifying the recipient and purpose of the transfer.
Depending on the circumstances, relevant documents might include:
A transfer should not simply disappear from the financial history because the money has left Australia.
A person may say that money was sent to their parents, siblings or another relative overseas.
That explanation may be entirely genuine.
But the characterisation of the payment matters.
Was it genuinely a gift?
Was it repayment of an existing debt?
Was it a loan to the relative?
Was the relative holding the money temporarily?
Was it used to purchase property?
Does your former partner retain an interest in the money or property?
Can the alleged debt or gift be supported by documents?
If $200,000 is transferred to a family member shortly before or after separation, describing the transfer as “money for my parents” does not necessarily answer the relevant financial questions.
The transaction may require evidence and explanation.
Family loans can become contentious in property proceedings.
Sometimes there was a genuine loan.
Sometimes money was advanced informally with no clear expectation of repayment.
Relevant questions can include:
The absence of a formal agreement does not automatically mean a family loan is not genuine.
Equally, calling a transfer a “loan repayment” does not automatically establish that it should be treated as a genuine liability.
The surrounding evidence matters.
Potentially, yes.
A family law property settlement is not limited to Australian real estate or Australian bank accounts.
Overseas property and financial interests may be relevant to the parties' overall financial circumstances.
For example, a person may have:
The practical difficulty is often identifying, proving and valuing the interest.
Depending on the country and the type of asset, foreign documents, translations, valuation evidence or advice concerning the law of the other jurisdiction may be required.
You do not necessarily need to know everything at the beginning.
Often the starting point is the Australian side of the transaction.
An Australian bank statement may identify:
Once a pattern is identified, more targeted disclosure can be requested.
The important point is to avoid making extremely broad accusations without first working through the available records.
A transaction trail is usually more useful than suspicion alone.
Potentially.
A subpoena is a Court-issued document that can require a person or organisation to produce documents, give evidence or both.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia provides a detailed guide to subpoenas in family law proceedings.
A subpoena can be useful where relevant documents are held by a third party rather than your former partner.
Depending on the circumstances, this may include records held by:
Subpoenas are subject to procedural rules and, in some circumstances, leave of the Court is required before a subpoena can be issued.
They should also be properly targeted.
A subpoena is not simply an opportunity to request every document an organisation has ever held about a person. There should be a proper forensic purpose for the material sought.
Yes.
The Court's disclosure guidance identifies several mechanisms available under the Family Law Rules, including:
The appropriate method depends on what information is missing.
For example, if bank statements show six international transfers totalling $180,000, it may be more effective to seek an explanation and documents relating specifically to those transfers than to make an unfocused request for “all financial documents”.
Good disclosure work is often forensic rather than voluminous.
Companies and trusts can make financial disclosure more complex, but they do not necessarily put assets or income beyond scrutiny.
Relevant material can include:
A business may also pay expenses that would otherwise have been personal expenses.
Understanding the true financial position can therefore require considerably more than looking at the salary appearing on an individual's tax return.
A forensic accountant can be useful in a property matter involving complicated businesses, unexplained transactions or suspected non-disclosure.
Their role may include analysing financial records and identifying issues requiring further investigation.
For example, they may examine:
Not every case needs a forensic accountant.
The cost needs to be proportionate to the amount potentially at stake.
Where a substantial business, significant cash income or large unexplained transfers are involved, however, specialist financial analysis may be valuable.
Timing matters.
The Court's duty of disclosure guidance specifically addresses the disclosure of relevant property disposals, including property disposed of by sale, transfer, assignment or gift.
Significant transactions around separation therefore deserve careful attention.
For example, suppose a party transfers $150,000 to an overseas relative three months before separation.
That does not automatically mean the Court will treat the $150,000 as though it remains sitting in that person's bank account.
But the transaction, its purpose and its effect on the parties' financial position may be highly relevant.
The current Family Law Act also expressly allows the Court, when determining a property settlement, to consider intentional or reckless material wastage of property or financial resources.
How a particular transfer is treated will depend on the evidence.
Failure to comply with disclosure obligations can have serious consequences.
The Family Law Act 1975 expressly provides for full and frank disclosure in financial and property proceedings.
The Court's disclosure guidance also explains the potential consequences of failing to disclose.
Depending on the circumstances, the Court may:
Parties are also required to give an undertaking concerning their compliance with the duty of disclosure.
Non-disclosure is therefore not simply a procedural inconvenience.
It can have significant consequences for the person who fails to disclose.
Not simply because you say so.
Allegations of hidden assets or undeclared income need an evidentiary basis.
That does not mean you must prove the entire case before seeking further disclosure.
There is an important difference between:
“I know they are hiding millions overseas.”
and:
“Bank statements show $320,000 transferred overseas over 18 months. The transfers have not been adequately explained and the recipient and purpose have not been disclosed.”
The second identifies an objective financial issue capable of investigation.
That is usually a much stronger starting point.
Start with documents you are lawfully entitled to possess or access.
Useful material may include:
Do not access accounts or systems you are not legally entitled to access.
Do not guess passwords, impersonate your former partner or secretly access their banking or email.
If documents need to be obtained from your former partner or a third party, the family law system provides lawful disclosure and subpoena processes for doing that.
Often, yes.
A simple chronology can be extremely useful.
For example:
Date
Amount
From
To
What needs explaining
12 March
$25,000
Joint account
Overseas transfer
Recipient unknown
7 May
$40,000
Business account
Relative
Said to be loan repayment
18 August
$15,000
Personal account
Transfer service
Purpose unknown
The objective is not to create your own forensic accounting report.
It is to identify patterns and questions.
This can allow your lawyer to make targeted disclosure requests and assess whether subpoenas or expert accounting evidence are proportionate.
Be careful.
If lawyers are already involved, it may be better for disclosure requests to be made formally and precisely.
Sending a message saying, “I know you've hidden all our money overseas” may achieve very little.
A structured request identifying the relevant transaction and the documents required is usually more useful.
For example, the issue might be framed around a particular $80,000 transfer, the identity of the recipient, the purpose of the transfer and documents evidencing any alleged loan or obligation.
The aim is to obtain evidence, not win an argument by text message.
This can be significantly more complicated.
If final property orders have already been made, or a financial agreement has already been entered into, discovering serious non-disclosure afterwards may raise questions about whether the outcome can be revisited.
The available options depend on how the settlement was finalised and the circumstances of the non-disclosure.
If substantial assets or income are discovered after settlement, obtain advice promptly rather than assuming nothing can be done.
Start with the evidence you have.
Identify what does not make sense.
Then identify what documents would answer the question.
A useful process is:
Non-disclosure cases can become expensive very quickly if every unusual transaction is treated as evidence of hidden wealth.
The strongest cases are usually built by identifying specific discrepancies and systematically following them.
Do not assume that because money is paid in cash or transferred overseas it cannot be investigated.
Equally, do not assume that every cash payment or overseas transfer proves dishonesty.
The first task is to understand the financial records and identify the gaps.
Family law provides substantial disclosure mechanisms for doing that.
Urban Law Group acts in complex property settlements involving businesses, trusts, cash income, disputed liabilities, overseas transfers and allegations of non-disclosure.
Where necessary, we work with financial experts to analyse the records and identify what further information should be obtained.
If the numbers do not add up, the next step is not simply to accuse the other party of hiding money. It is to work out why they do not add up and what evidence is needed to establish the true financial position.
For more information about financial disclosure and Court procedures: