In the movie "Chinatown," Jack Nicholson plays detective Jake Geddes, who conducts business from an old-fashioned office with "Discreet Investigations" stenciled on the door. Geddes specialized in photographing errant spouses in flagrante delicto. Back in the 1930's, adultery was the only ground for divorce in most jurisdictions. The advent of no-fault divorce in the 1970's put Jake and his kind out of business, and economics became the focus of divorce proceedings.

When considering assets, divorce courts view marriage as a business partnership and divorce as the winding up of that relationship. In order for courts to fairly divide assets, all marital and separate (if any) property needs to be disclosed. Unfortunately, divorcing parties are not always forthright with information.

If you don't have complete knowledge of your spouse's income or assets, or you believe that your spouse is hiding or will hide income or assets, review the following pages:

• Predivorce Document Checklist
  - Must reading for anyone facing divorce. From the Tao of Divorce.

• Ask the Private Investigator Bulletin Board
  

• Mediating the Value of Small Businesses and Professional Firms
  

• Putting an End to Double Dipping
  

• "Reasonable Compensation" for the Sole Practitioner
  

http://www.divorcenet.com/assets.html