When there are a lot of assets on the line, you may worry that your spouse is going to try to hide some of those assets. They could do this by transferring them into a friend’s name, for example, and then transferring them back after the divorce. Some people also do it by transferring money to a business, failing to report investments, investing money in cryptocurrency, transferring money overseas and in many other ways.
But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that hiding assets is the only underhanded thing someone may do during a divorce. They may also try to dissipate those assets. This is a slightly different process that can also cause you financial harm.
Spending down the assets that you own
Spending assets frivolously or even recklessly is often known as the dissipation of marital assets. This is a type of intentional spending. Your spouse is not necessarily doing it because they want to spend the money but only because they don’t want you to get a percentage of that money when the assets are divided in court.
They probably will not do this by buying physical assets, as those could easily be valued, sold or divided. Instead, they will do things like going on vacation, buying expensive food and drinks or trying to buy things that could easily be undervalued. They’re essentially just trying to spend the money on themselves.
What can you do?
There are steps you can take if you believe your spouse is doing this on purpose and fraudulently. Make sure you know about your legal options.
