Can you recover money spent on an affair in your Louisville divorce? We are often asked about the impact of an affair on a divorce case. Basically, the fact that one or both of the spouses had an affair during the marriage may be irrelevant. Kentucky presumes irretrievable differences as the reason for a divorce. You don’t have to prove the affair in order to seek a divorce.
We will deliberately eschew any of the obvious and genuine emotional issues associated with an affair, but it is important to focus on one important aspect if you suspect or know your spouse was having an affair prior to the date of separation: If marital funds were used to provide lavish gifts or pay for trips, meals or other expenses there may be a valid claim associated with the wasteful dissipation of marital assets.
If expenses can be documented as evidence you may be able to recover your half of the marital unit’s money spent on an affair during property division in your Louisville divorce. This is true for many other forms of wasteful spending or the foolish management or handling of marital assets. The Court may consider many questionable actions taken by your spouse as wrongful dissipation and order compensation for these actions to be deducted from your former spouse’s share of marital property.
A few other examples of wasteful dissipation can include running up credit cards in advance of a divorce, gambling and other addictions, or any expenditures which were “out of the normal lifestyle” and which did not benefit both spouses. Generally speaking, the Court can and will take the imprudent, unreasonable or irresponsible actions of a spouse into account during the process of marital property division.
If you can document gifts, travel and other expenses your spouse paid for during an affair using marital funds you absolutely have the potential to recover money spent on an affair during the property division portion of your Louisville divorce. We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced divorce and family law attorneys.
