ASK ANGIE^TM
By Angela Hallier, Esq.
Answers to your divorce and family law questions

Q I am getting a divorce and just found out my Husband has gambled away most of our joint savings without my knowledge. Will I be compensated?

A Yes. You will likely receive more assets than your Husband in your property division to make up for one-half of what he spent. (One-half of the money he spent was "yours" and one-half was "his" under community property law principals.) In Arizona, the court can consider "excessive or abnormal expenditures, as well as the destruction, concealment or fraudulent disposition of community assets" when dividing the community estate. Such expenditures are globally referred to as "waste." If there are not enough other community assets to compensate you for your share of the waste, you will be awarded a money judgment against your spouse. Findings of waste can be based on a spouse damaging or losing community property, making significant withdrawals from a retirement or other account with no accounting for the expenditures, or spending on an extra-marital affair or illegal drugs. A decrease in the value of a community asset (like a house or a business), if caused by a spouse's destruction, fraud, or "abnormal" actions, could also be considered waste.

If you are the spouse claiming that waste occurred, it is initially your burden to show that, on its face, such spending appears to meet the legal definition of waste. If you are able to do so, it becomes your spouse's burden to show that the spending was not waste. Your spouse can meet that burden by showing that the monies were spent for the benefit of the community (for example, paying community debts), were spent with your acquiescence or approval, or the spending was not excessive or abnormal based on the historical spending habits or lifestyle of your family.

I once had a case where one spouse sold the other spouse's clothes at a garage sale. The court ruled that the sale of the clothes was waste, and ordered the holder of the garage sale to pay to replace all of the clothing sold. Beware of vengeful actions, and account for your spending if you are using community accounts while your divorce case is ongoing to avoid a claim of waste being made against you.

It is always advisable to seek the counsel of a qualified attorney who can advise you specifically about your case. The information in this column is provided for general information only in the state of Arizona, is not specific to any one case and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the reader. ©2003 - 2008 Hallier Law Firm PLC

ASK ANGIE^TM is published monthly in Arizona Trends Magazine.