Source: https://www.mississippifamilylawyerblog.com/wasting-marital-assets-is-a-no/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 00:33:17+00:00

Document:
Further, in Mississippi, perhaps the most recognizable and complained-about form of wasteful dissipation is one spouse’s gambling of marital assets, especially gambling with money from a joint, marital bank account. See e.g., Lowrey, 25 So. 3d at 288-91 (Miss. 2009); Craft v. Craft, 825 So. 2d 605, 611 (Miss. 2002); Smith v. Smith, 90 So. 3d 1259, 1269 (Miss. Ct. App. 2011); LaRue v. LaRue, 969 So. 2d 99 (Miss. Ct. App. 2007). Though, when examining whether wasteful dissipation has occurred, Mississippi courts have considered several things from one spouse’s failure to pay bills that led to larger amounts of marital debt, to a spouse’s frivolous spending habits, to a spouse’s liquidation or selling off of marital property on the eve of divorce, to physically damaged marital furniture resulting from one spouse’s rage-filled misconduct. See generally Dunaway v. Dunaway, 749 So. 2d 1112 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999); Wolfe v. Wolfe, 766 So. 2d 123 (Miss. Ct. App. 2000); Doyle v. Doyle, 55 So. 3d 1097, 1106-07 (Miss. Ct. App. 2010).
(3) whether the expenditure was excessive or de minimis; and (4) whether the dissipating party intended to hide, deplete, or divert the marital assets.
Id. (citing Thompson v. Thompson, 811 N.E.2d 888, 915 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004)). Thus, under this approach, courts look not only to the expenditure itself but also to the intentions of the dissipating spouse; making it seem as though the underlying purpose for dissipation is just as important as the act itself. Id.
In the end, the advice is always the same: do not unnecessarily waste marital assets and do not adopt an “if I can’t have it, no one can” attitude. It is can be very difficult and unpleasant for a spouse to have to explain his or her wasteful dissipation of martial assets to a Chancellor. Because Mississippi courts seek to make divorce as fair as possible, unnecessarily wasting marital assets is seen as unfair and a dissipating spouse can pay the price for it in a divorce. Nevertheless, whether you are seeking to recover for a spouse’s wasteful dissipation or defend against such a claim, it is always important to seek help from an experienced Mississippi divorce attorney. If you or someone you know in the Jackson or Madison, Rankin, or Hinds County area needs professional assistance in a divorce or other family law matter, please call the Law Office of M. Devin Whitt for free consultation at (601) 607-5055.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.