It’s one thing when your soon-to-be ex-partner is spending a few bucks on his new flame or coughing up some money you think is frivolously wasted on a nonsensical hobby during the divorce process.
It’s quite another when you reasonably have evidence that points to a purposeful pattern of him spending down marital assets as quickly as possible (let’s just go with the male designation here; a recent divorce-linked media piece does so, notwithstanding that some divorcing wives also spend impermissibly even while they negotiate settlement terms).
The consequences of so-called “asset dissipation,” notes the above-cited Forbes article, “are no laughing matter.” If purposeful spending aimed at reducing the amount of marital property an innocent spouse should receive remains unchecked, it can financially ruin that latter party.
What would possibly motivate one divorcing partner to engage in such behavior? It bears noting, after all, that a strategy of intentionally dissipating marital wealth is self-destructive; it reduces the pile of money otherwise available for splitting in a dissolution for both divorcing parties.
The Forbes piece offers up a single-word explanation, namely, “spite.” Some husbands would “rather lose money outright than split it with their wives.”
A party who is the intended target of such vindictive conduct – a spouse who knows or even suspects that marital wealth is being intentionally diminished – might reasonably want to promptly contact a seasoned divorce attorney who routinely advises clients in property division matters.
Some spouses just don’t play fair. When they refuse to do so, an aggressive family law attorney can help to identify their wrongdoing and invoke judicial help in putting a stop to it.