What role does asset tracing play in a divorce case?
In most divorces, the couple comes to court with all sorts of assets. Some of the assets are titled jointly, some are shared, and other assets are never intended to be shared. Asset tracing is simply the process of the documentation and supporting of a claim that an asset is property exempt from equitable distribution. The equitable distribution of marital property is the most grinding aspect of the process in most divorce cases. Earning money and saving it is no easy task in today’s world. Moreover, as people get older, it is not easy to replace assets lost to a spouse in a nasty divorce case. The task of determining which assets are subject to equitable distribution is often an extremely arduous one. All property that is owned individually or jointly by one spouse is presumed to be marital property subject to distribution, unless it can be shown that it is exempt. See Painter v. Painter, 65 N.J. 196 (1974). The burden of proof for an exemption claim is on the party seeking it. To sum
