The financial side of a divorce can be complex, and it is important to keep an eye on your spouse’s spending. This may be true even before the divorce has been finalized. If there are significant changes, especially if spending has increased, that is a red flag that they could be trying to dissipate marital assets.
The dissipation of these assets just means spending them down in a way that is not otherwise necessary. It is natural that your spouse will still have expenses both before and during the divorce. It can take months before the two of you finalize your divorce, so spending is not necessarily prohibited. But unnecessary purchases could be done intentionally to waste those assets.
Why would this help your spouse?
Dissipation is often carried out by those who have a higher earning potential. They are trying to avoid dividing the assets with their ex.
For instance, say that you and your spouse have $200,000 in savings. You are anticipating that you will receive roughly $100,000, as you have both contributed to this account. That is helpful because you only work part-time and have a limited income, while your spouse has a full-time job and is a high earner.
In the months before the divorce, though, your spouse may set out to spend as much of that $200,000 as they can on themselves. They still benefit from those purchases, but if they spend the account down to $20,000, then you may only receive $10,000. They are essentially trying to spend $90,000 that otherwise would have gone to you.
Naturally, the exact figures above are just an example to show how dissipation works and how it can be harmful, and every case will be unique. But if you believe your spouse is doing this, you need to know what legal steps to take to protect your property rights during the divorce.