While some couples work together to ensure a smooth transition, others face a much more hostile reality. In many cases, a spouse may intentionally sabotage your shared finances out of spite or revenge. What is marital waste in a divorce? This behavior, legally known as the wasteful dissipation of marital assets, can have a devastating impact on your financial future. If you suspect your spouse is depleting your accounts, contact a Los Angeles divorce attorney immediately to protect your rights.
What Does Marital Waste Mean?
When you’re in the middle of a divorce, you may find that your spouse willfully and intentionally wastes joint money. This is generally done as a means of hurting the other partner in an attempt to leave them with fewer assets and in a less stable financial place. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon, as anger and hurt can cause people to make poor decisions.
Common examples of marital waste during a divorce include spending shared funds on expensive and unnecessary purchases, selling shared assets and keeping the funds, or hiding assets from the other party.
It’s important to understand that, in California, marital assets are split under community property laws. This means each spouse, regardless of their contribution to the marriage, is entitled to an even 50/50 split of assets. As such, if the courts agree that your spouse committed wasteful dissipation of marital assets, you may receive a more favorable split as the courts will take this information into consideration to make the outcome of your divorce fair for both parties.
What Should I Do if I Believe My Spouse is Wasting Money?
If you have reason to believe your spouse is intentionally and wastefully dissipating your joint assets, you may be angry, hurt, and worried about your financial future. While these are all valid feelings, retaliating is not the answer. Instead, you must take the necessary legal action to protect yourself. As such, connecting with an experienced attorney who has experience handling complex and high-value assets is critical.
Your attorney can examine your financial documents and your spouse’s spending to determine if their actions constitute marital waste. If they do, having legal representation means you have someone on your side who can fight for your best interest. This includes fighting to ensure you receive more assets during your divorce or dividing your shared debt so your spouse is responsible for more of it to even out their waste.
As you can see, these matters can be incredibly complex. When you’re going through a divorce, you may already be overwhelmed by the dissolution of your marriage. Unfortunately, discovering your spouse is wasting funds and impacting your future can make matters even more complex. As such, the team at Kramer & Zitser, LLP is ready to help you. Connect with our team today to learn how we can guide you through these matters to advocate for your best interest.
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