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I applied for divorce from my husband over a year ago. He is a very high earner (£400k) but since then has spent unprecedented amounts of money (after his mortgage on a separate house £12k per month). It has drained funds that would have been part of the matrimonial pot but he says this is ‘normal’ spending. I am on the other hand a ‘saver’ and have spend the year trying to build up reserves to protect my future. I am currently not working for a number of reasons I won’t go into here but related to events leading up to the divorce. Will and should his spending be considered when we negotiate the settlement?
Replies (1)
Good morning,
Thank you for getting in touch with amicable.
Deliberately disposing of marital assets or putting them beyond a partner's reach is not legal and would be taken into account by a court. The issue is, however, that it's a grey area (as you can see from your ex's response), and once things are gone, there's nothing much you can do... you can't have half of what's NOT there! If the behaviour is extreme, then there are freezing orders that can be made, and you should take advice from a solicitor on having those made.
It can be better in the first instance to try and negotiate a spending schedule whilst you are separated and before your divorce is completed. Could you meet together calmly, create some rules, and stick to them? If that's too hard to do without help, then here’s a link to our Joint Advice Service, which will provide a safe space to tackle one-off issues and more information on the things a court looks at when deciding if a settlement is fair. See if your ex would be willing to negotiate with some help to agree on spending limits - It could be a good opportunity to discuss your current situation with one of our experienced Divorce Specialists.
Alternatively, you can book a free 15-minute advice call to get more information on the options available to you.
Additionally, here is a helpful blog that gives a brief overview of what a judge would look at in a consent order, and an episode of The Divorce Podcast that explores assets division.
Best wishes, Tatiana