It may surprise you to learn spending can affect your San Diego divorce. The Court understands obvious expenditures such as legal fees, living expenses and the costs of supporting your children. Each party will have to continue paying expenses related to food, housing, child care, education and transportation. Questions will arise when excessive spending occurs in the timeframe before the divorce is filed in during the course of proceedings.
One example would be running up credit cards prior to a divorce. If one of the parties runs up credit card debt in the period prior to the divorce the Court will likely be interested in the nature of the expenditures and whether they benefitted the individual or if they were genuine necessity. You should give serious consideration to how spending can affect your San Diego divorce.
Another example is the purchase of an extravagant vacation or vehicle. If one of the parties decides it is time to travel (especially if it is to an obviously exotic, remote or luxurious location) or purchase a new vehicle which doesn’t reflect the genuine needs of the family or individual the Court may question the expenditure. Spending can affect your San Diego divorce, whether it involves expensive gifts, running up credit accounts or simply depleting business or personal investments or accounts. The Court will sort this type of behavior out, often resulting in substantial balancing and even penalties in the property division component of the divorce. In some cases, this behavior can result in accusations of fraud or malicious and reckless behavior resulting in financial sanctions from the Court.
One should consider if any expense in the period leading up to or during a divorce benefits an individual instead of “the family.” We all have normal costs associated with food, clothing, shelter, transportation and education. If these costs become inflated or there is documentable evidence of extravagance or an attempt to gain an advantage this spending can affect your San Diego divorce in a negative manner.
Protect your own interests and contact us or call 760-389-3927 to schedule an appointment for a remote or socially distanced consultation with one of our experienced Certified Family Law Specialists.