Can Venmo be a key part of your divorce? The answer is yes!
Venmo is a new convenience, and it’s an app that allows you to receive and send money with one click. When Venmo was created, it probably wasn’t with the thought that it could be used to hide assets in a divorce proceeding, but the reality is that it can.
Venmo is an extremely useful tool. Being able to pay anyone, anywhere, anytime is invaluable. However, Venmo also stores funds which can go unseen in a divorce. When you send money over Venmo, you never really see what happens on the other end. The receiving party needs to actually accept your transfer, otherwise Venmo keeps your funds in a third-party account. This means that if you review someone’s Venmo statements and they have transfers that they haven’t accepted, that money will not be reflected. Their account could say $0.00 at the date of dissolution, and then before the ink has dried on the divorce agreement they can accept thousands of dollars.
Venmo is a game-changer for divorce. It’s not part of standard discovery requests, so some divorce attorneys may not even pursue statements. Some attorneys may not realize that Venmo even exists. Venmo is not a bank account or a credit card, so very rarely do parties disclose that they use Venmo at all. However, statements can easily be procured through additional discovery requests and/or interrogatories.
On the other hand, Venmo can be very useful in family cases if used correctly. You can easily keep track of child support payments, reimbursement for medical expenses, daycare costs, and more. Since Venmo is instantaneous, you can always ensure that your payments are on time. You also will always have proof of your payments in case they are ever questioned in court, as you will have an automatic “paper” trail.
Venmo is a public platform, so other people are also able to view who you pay and what you pay for. This level of transparency can make some people uneasy, so occasionally emojis are used in the memo line instead of a proper description. There are ways to make your payments “private” so that only you and the person you’re sharing funds with can see the transaction. If your payments are part of a court order, you may want to consider the private option and always write your description out.
If you have a divorce, custody, or post-judgment matter and you think you may need some guidance about your discovery and the role it plays in your case, contact Wolf & Shore, LLC for a confidential consultation today. We can be reached here, at 203.745.3151, or at info@wolfandshorelaw.com.
