One issue that sometimes comes up in divorce cases is the dissipation of marital assets. This is different from hiding assets. It generally means that one spouse has been intentionally spending money in a way that deprives their ex of their fair share during property division.
Courts can address this during a divorce. They may adjust how assets are divided to make up for it. Let’s take a look at how this could work.
Splitting up a bank account
For instance, say that you file for divorce and your spouse is unhappy about it. The two of you have a shared bank account with $100,000 in it. You anticipate getting roughly $50,000, while the other $50,000 will go to your ex.
But because they are unhappy about the divorce, they recklessly begin spending money out of the account. They do this without buying tangible assets, which would still hold some value. Maybe they pay for trips, flights, meals, entertainment, gambling, alcohol and things of this nature. Before you officially get divorced, they manage to spend $40,000, taking the account down to a total of $60,000. They claim that you should only get $30,000 of that total because it should be split between the two of you.
However, if the court sees that they have been intentionally wasting marital assets, they may order that you should still get the $50,000 you expected, and your ex will only get $10,000. This way, their new spending habits only affect them and not you.
As you can imagine, though, this can make a divorce case very complex, which is why it’s important to understand all of the legal options at your disposal.
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