Divorce When Your Spouse Has Lost Marital Assets

 Posted on October 29, 2024 in Divorce

A big part of divorce is dividing your marital assets. If your spouse has lost or wastefully spent a large amount of money that belonged to both of you, you may be able to recover some of those funds during your divorce. Dissipation of marital assets is the legal term that describes a situation where one spouse has taken marital funds and recklessly spent them on himself or herself without the other’s agreement. If you find that your spouse has withdrawn money from your joint bank account or retirement plan, or has sold assets like your shared stock holdings and used the money for his or her own enjoyment, the divorce court may award you other assets to make up for that loss. An experienced Novi, MI divorce lawyer may be able to help you recover some or all of the funds your spouse dissipated.

What is Dissipation of Marital Assets?

For one spouse’s spending to qualify as dissipation of marital assets, it must meet a few requirements. First, the money spent must have been a marital asset. Each spouse can dispose of his or her separate property at will. Second, the spending must have taken place without the other spouse’s agreement or consent. If you were aware of your spouse’s spending and did not object, you might be considered complicit in the spending. Finally, the spending must be wasteful and for the sole benefit of the spouse doing the spending, not for the benefit of the family as a whole.

Examples of Dissipating Marital Funds

Examples of the dissipation of marital assets include: 

• Sally becomes addicted to drugs. Without telling her spouse, she withdraws thousands of dollars from their retirement savings account and uses the money to buy illegal substances. 
• Bob is having an affair. He tells his wife he is traveling to attend to a family emergency, but actually goes on a lavish vacation with his affair partner. He pays for it with a credit card his wife’s name is also on. 
• Alexa is hiding a gambling problem from her family. She takes money out of a bank account she and her wife were using to save money for a house and loses it at the casino. 
• Sean goes out with his friends one night and become very intoxicated. He spends several thousand dollars on prostitutes and high-priced liquor even though he and his wife are struggling financially. After he does this several times over his wife’s objections, she divorces him. 

Contact a Novi, MI Divorce Lawyer 

Elkouri Heath, PLC is committed to helping people whose spouses have carelessly wasted marital funds recover their share of the assets. Our experienced Oakland County, MI divorce attorneys will evaluate your situaiton to determine whether dissipation has occurred. Contact us at 248-344-9700 for a free consultation.