Does hiding money ever get a spouse into trouble with the IRS?

Sometimes it does, and those are really tricky situations, because in the process of proving that not all of the cash has been either deposited or taken into account in the federal tax filings that are made by the business owner, there’s a possibility of some exposure to the IRS for the innocent spouse, for the spouse who hasn’t engaged in that behavior. Many times there are joint tax returns that are filed, and that can create some problems. It’s a process to be undertaken delicately, but it has to be done, because if it’s not, then the non-business-owning spouse is going to be severely handicapped in terms of the amount that they receive in the process.

Chuck Roberts is a family lawyer at Momkus McCluskey Roberts, LLC, one of the largest law firms in DuPage County, Illinois.