It’s certainly true that divorces happen almost quickly, with both parties working in agreement or mutual understanding. However, this is hardly the norm, and for a majority of people out there, divorce can be a difficult, draining, painful affair.
In these cases, when an already strained relationship is put under the pressure of competition and high stakes, people will often make malicious or cruel decisions in the emotional heat of the moment. In other cases, spite motivates one of the exes to try and punish the other as much as possible with cold determination.
Whatever the circumstance, one of the most common attacks employed by an aggrieved divorcee is what’s known as wasteful dissipation. If you or a loved one is involved in an acrimonious divorce, read on to better protect yourself.
What Is Wasteful Dissipation?
As the name implies, wasteful dissipation is a legal term that describes one partner intentionally squandering or destroying their assets during, after, or in the lead-up to a divorce. It usually takes the form of spending of shared funds, specifically:
- Spending in an extravagant way is noticeably different from normal spending habits.
- Spending in a way that doesn’t benefit the household.
- Spending is either done behind their partner’s back or specifically against their wishes or consent.
It doesn’t only apply to money – it can also be used to describe things like selling, destroying, or vandalizing shared property. Anything that intentionally keeps value out of your exe’s hands can be used as an example.
But the most important legal distinction of wasteful dissipation is an intent to spend or destroy assets in a way that makes them impossible or nearly impossible to get back, all in an attempt to deprive their partner of those assets.
Thus, to prove wasteful dissipation in court, you must use evidence to demonstrate that your ex intentionally acted in bad faith by wasting money without your knowledge and/or consent and did so specifically to spite you.
Impact of Wasteful Dissipation on a Divorce Case
This is almost always an act of pure spite, intended to punish the ex first and foremost, without much thought to anything else. As such, wasteful dissipation can often be just as harmful to the person doing it as it is to their intended target.
This manifests in the two major impacts that wasteful dissipation tends to have on a divorce case – firstly, it has the intended effect of squandering and depleting assets. If you seek to claim 50% of your shared savings, it’s much harder to do so when your ex has already spent that money on cruises, lavish meals out, vacations, etc.
However, much like adultery, abuse, or other measurable wrongdoings, wasteful dissipation often has a negative effect on the responsible party. If a person can prove in court that their ex intentionally squandered shared assets, they have a much stronger case to be awarded assets and benefits by the judge.
In particular, judges will often leverage either spousal support or alimony payments to punish wasteful dissipation. This way, even if the assets have been spent, the responsible party still has a financial obligation to their ex to cover at least some of the value that was lost.
Warning Signs of Wasteful Dissipation
If you are involved in a divorce or feel that a divorce is likely in your future, one step you should take immediately (if you haven’t done so already) is to start paying lots of attention to any spending records you have available. By reviewing shared accounts and credit card statements, you can spot signs of wasteful dissipation at the beginning and collect potential evidence you can use in court.
Here are some signs that your partner may be trying to waste assets to spite you:
- Sudden losses from gambling or investing in risky propositions.
- Increase in spending on non-family or un-shared expenses.
- Large purchases or unexplained expenses on shared credit cards or accounts.
- Spending that’s visibly beyond your usual standard of living.
- Transferring money from shared accounts to hidden personal ones.
- Large and/or unusual or irregular withdrawals of cash.
These are all potential warning signs of and potential evidence for proving wasteful dissipation.
Necessary First Steps if You Suspect Wasteful Dissipation
There is one essential step you must consider before all others when getting involved in a divorce case – getting trustworthy, specialized advice on your specific situation from a reliable attorney.
At the Azemika & Azemika, not only are we a family business, but we specialize exclusively in family law. We understand the high stakes, the emotional and mental pressures, and the often painful experience of dealing with painful family issues and the complications of the legal system at the same time.
You can trust us to make your best legal interests and your well-being our first priorities. Contact us today to find out how we can help.
