What is Marital Waste?
When couples are going through a divorce, it is not uncommon for there to be resentment and anger present between the couples. Many times this resentment and anger can manifest itself in one spouse financially becoming irresponsible and spending money as a form of punishing the other spouse. This is seen by the courts as marital waste.
Marital waste is committed when one spouse spends community assets either irresponsibly or for their sole benefit. Examples of marital waste can be:
- Unreasonable spending such as extravagant shopping sprees, or vacations in order to benefit only one spouse.
- Spending money on drugs, prostitution and gambling
- Spending money to support an extramarital affair
- Selling off a community-property asset without either approval from your spouse or for less than the fair market value.
- Gifting large sums of money to either friends or family members
- Excessive use of credit cards for non-essential items
Because Nevada is a community property state, everything that is earned during the marriage is considered to be equally owned by both parties. So at the time of a divorce the courts look to divide the assets between the parties equally. When marital waste exists, this equal division of property can be altered.
If you are suspecting that your spouse is committing marital waste, be mindful that marital waste is a very difficult claim to prove. It’s not enough for you just to simply disagree with your spouse’s spending habits. The alleged spending must be of great significance. You must look at and prove whether the spouse who is accused of committing marital waste has done so with a deliberate intent to deprive the other spouse of their fair share of those assets.
If you are considering divorce and would like to discuss your situation in detail, contact our office to speak with an experienced family law attorney. We can be reached at (702) 998-1188, info@ljlawlv.com, or by scheduling a consultation online.
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