Division of labor is a basic organizational principle. People do it in their professional and daily lives.
Usually, splitting up work makes sense and saves everybody a lot of time. However, in the case of divorce and finance, it might provide an advantage for one spouse over the other.
Defining the problem
A problem with splitting up financial tasks between spouses is that one person tends to have a better picture of the finances than the other. Other than one-sided strategic knowledge, the controlling spouse might also be the only one who knows how to access accounts or assets.
Understanding the potential consequences
One-sided knowledge has the potential to create ignorance, distrust and conflict. For example, if only one person paid bills and managed a checking account for a marriage, it could lead to a situation in which the other person had no idea that spending was out of control.
Another potential consequence could be that one spouse would have the ability to hide assets during a divorce. Difficult-to-track assets, such as cryptocurrency, might further complicate the matter. This type of issue could happen even if both people in the marriage contributed significantly to household income.
Considering some solutions
Many couples simply do not have the time between them to work equally on finances. However, whether it is through regular updates, a communal filing system or even password sharing, there are usually options to make the financial state of the marriage transparent to both spouses. However, this assumes a level of cooperation that is not typically present leading up to and during the divorce process.
