Sands v. Sands

In Sands v. Sands, 442 Mich 30; 497 NW2d 493 (1993), the parties had been married twenty-three years when the plaintiff wife filed for divorce. The trial court divided the assets equally but directed the defendant husband to pay seventy percent of the wife's attorney fees because the husband had attempted to conceal assets. The Court found that the division of assets was inequitable and determined that the defendant must forfeit his interest in all assets which he attempted to hide. In affirming, the Supreme Court held that there is no automatic rule of forfeiture, and stated that a party's attempt to conceal assets is only one of many factors the court must weigh. The Court added, "a judge's role is to achieve equity, not to 'punish' one of the parties." Id., at 37.