North Carolina residents who are going through a contentious divorce should pay close attention to the marital assets. In an effort to avoid sharing money, some divorcing spouses deliberately spend everything or give away valuable property. This kind of divorce activity is referred to as dissipation of assets, and it is usually done by the higher-earning spouse.
A lower-earning spouse could suffer significant financial losses if the other party dissipates the marital assets. To stop a spouse from making large purchases or transferring investments, some states impose an automatic restraining order when the papers are filed. However, not all states do so, and even where this is available it does not have any effect of pre-filing dissipation.
Some spouses dissipate marital assets by purchasing expensive gifts for their new romantic partners or running up huge gambling debts. Whatever the nature of a spouse’s frivolous divorce spending, it will only be considered dissipation of assets if it is unusual behavior. If a spouse spent money carelessly during the marriage, a judge may not consider the same type of behavior during the divorce to be dissipation of assets.
People who are facing the end of a marriage often have a lot on their minds, and some may not even notice when these types of surreptitious actions are being taken. This could be especially true in the case of a spouse who was not involved in family finances. As a result, people in this situation may want to meet with an attorney to see if having additional professional assistance, such as that of a forensic accountant, may be advisable.