What You Need To Know About Wasteful Dissipation And Divorce
When couples get a divorce, one of the most contentious subjects is asset division. If you divorce due largely to finances, poor money management can make the process of ending your marriage even harder. If one partner spends large amounts of cash and that cash is considered a marital asset, it can be problematic. In many states, this is referred to as wasteful dissipation and can be serious when you go to court. The following are some things you need to know about wasteful dissipation:
What is Considered Wasteful Dissipation?
In a marriage, wasteful spending by one spouse is referred to as wasteful dissipation. This is not your typical situation in which a spouse goes out and spends the afternoon shopping for merchandise. Wasteful dissipation occurs when one spouse essentially is financially abusing another spouse by spending all of the marital money so frivolously that they have no regard for their spouse. If the victimized spouse can argue that wasteful dissipation occurred in the marriage and the judge agrees, the court can award the victimized spouse monetarily with a higher amount of the marital assets when settling the divorce.
What Are Some Examples of Wasteful Dissipation?
A judge will only balance marital assets considering wasteful dissipation if a clear and obvious pattern of overspending on marital assets is present. The spending had to be willful and purposely inconsiderate of the other spouse. For example, if a spouse knew the other spouse had saved just enough money to pay the electric bill and instead spent it all on lottery tickets, this shows one pattern of wasteful dissipation. Money spent on drug or alcohol abuse that was meant for childcare is another example.
A spouse who spent excess money funding an extramarital affair can also be considered wasteful dissipation if the spending financially impacted the other spouse over a period of time. A judge will carefully evaluate each argument for wasteful dissipation to determine if a great enough pattern of spending constitutes this type of ruling.
How Do You Prove Wasteful Dissipation?
If you want to show a pattern of wasteful dissipation in your marriage, you must show that you not only were a victim of exorbitant spending abuse but also tried to do something to prevent the behavior. You should show when the spending began, describe the actions you attempted to quell the spending and any other information you have about your spouse's spending habits. You will need to provide documents that prove the spending took place when it took place, the type of items that were purchased, and so on.
Contact a law firm to learn more.