Often in divorce cases spouses will separate and establish separate households while their divorce is pending but not yet final. The cost to maintaining two households can be financially overwhelming. During such times parties may temporarily take on second jobs or use monies from marital savings to make ends meet. The general rule in Florida is that marital monies specifically spent to maintain these separate households or to maintain marital debts incurred should not be considered in the ultimate division of the parties’ marital assets at a final hearing. The theory behind this is that such funds used for reasonable living expenses benefit both parties and therefore should not be allocated to one party or the other in a final asset division.
There are exceptions to this of course. For instance, the Court in one notable case, Niederkorhr v. Kuselias, found that the wife’s expenditure of $100,000.00 on dermatological treatments and $7000.00 on a new dog amounted to dissipated funds chargeable to her in the Court’s ultimate scheme for division of the parties’ marital assets and debts.
Should you have questions about the use of marital assets during a pending divorce, please set up a no cost consultation with our office to see how this issue may be handled by the Court under your specific circumstances.
