Non-Disclosed living trust and divorce

I just found out that my ex-husband created a revocable living trust during the time of our marriage, which was 33 years. We have been divorced for 3 years. He did this without my knowledge with funds he had hidden from me. He has never disclosed this to me. I found out by accident. What can I do?

Call your divorce lawyer after reading the following and taking a look at some of the documentation relating to the divorce (see below).

Sounds like he may have committed fraud if these items were not disclosed in the divorce. Since a revocable trust generally can be terminated at anytime by the grantor, your ex, these assets could have really been his (perhaps, but not necessarily marital assets), and he could have (perhaps should have) put them into the marital "pot" for settlement purposes. It would be interesting to see if he used his Social Security number or a tax identification number on the trust. If he used a tax identification number (which may not be what the tax regulations mandate) he might have done so to prevent you or your forensic accountants from finding the assets as easily.

It could be important to see whether he reported this income on his personal income tax returns. If so, didn't you see those in the divorce process? If you filed joint returns and the income from this revocable trust is reported on the returns you signed it might be hard for you to say you didn't know about it. Revocable trusts are generally "grantor" trusts for income tax purposes which means the income is reported on the tax return of the grantor, your ex.

Check the property settlement agreement, divorce agreement and the financial documentation submitted during the divorce. Make sure these assets weren't disclosed (or if so how). Did the ex list the trust in the divorce disclosures? Did he list the assets?

In some instances spouses legitimately use revocable trusts to isolate gift, inherited or premarital assets. Is it possible these assets fell into one of those categories?

Good luck.