One thing to look for as you move toward a divorce is any changes in spending. This is why it’s often good to separate your finances as soon as you decide to divorce. But if you still have any joint funds—which qualify as marital assets—watch out for ways that your spouse may be spending them that differ from the norm.
This doesn’t mean that all spending is a significant red flag. A divorce could take more than six months to be completed. During this time, both you and your soon-to-be ex have to pay for things like housing, transportation and food. So some spending is certainly expected and shouldn’t be a problem. But if there are big expenditures or major changes in how money is spent, that could be an issue.
Dissipating assets
The problem is that your spouse may be attempting to dissipate marital assets—or spend them down—so that they don’t have to divide those assets with you.
For instance, say that the two of you have a bank account with $50,000 in it, meaning you both expect to receive $25,000 during property division. But your partner has a new romantic interest and spends $20,000 of that money taking them on trips and paying for expensive gifts over the months leading up to your divorce. The account drops down to a total of just $30,000, and you receive $15,000 during property division. Your spouse dissipated those assets so that they could spend them on their new partner and keep them away from you.
This is just one example of financial misconduct during a divorce. If you believe this is happening, take the time to carefully look into all of your legal options.