Divorce is a complex and problematic stage in anyone’s life that hurts not only mentally or socially but also financially. During this stage, many people, especially middle-class people, suffer severe financial issues.
During a divorce, people usually encounter many unfamiliar terms, including entertainment expenses. Such unknown expenses often create hurdles in the divorce process and increase the cost of spousal support.
In this article we will discuss the entertainment expenses during a divorce, and how it impacts the divorce process. After reading this article, I hope you don’t need to search on the internet more regarding the entertainment expenses during a divorce.
What Are Considered Entertainment Expenses During A Divorce?
Entertainment expenses in the context of divorce refer to the expenses an individual or couple does for leisure activities and recreational pursuits. These expenses may include a wide range of activities that one or both partner enjoys after their marriage.
Entertainment expenses during a divorce may vary from traveling expenses to gym memberships, which impacts financial amounts such as alimony and spousal support. Entertainment expenses also impact how the property will be divided and who will get custody of the child, as they show the financial status and spending power of the individuals.
5 Types of Entertainment Expenses:
Here we discuss 5 different types of entertainment expenses that will help you understand the topic in detail. However, there are many other types of expenses that are also considered entertainment expenses but they vary from person to person.
Dining out:
Money spent in restaurants, cafes, bars, etc is considered entertainment expenses. This may include money spent on family dinners, business meetings, or charity purposes. Your chosen restaurants for dinner give a hint about your financial status and spending power.
Vacation And Travel:
Another entertainment expense is money spent on vacation and travel. Your preferred destination for travel and the cost of living there give the jury an idea of your wealth and capacity for spending.
Flight tickets, hotel accommodations, car rentals, and activities such as scuba diving, skydiving or parachuting, theme forest park visits, and cruise expenses are considered under this category.
Clubs And Gym Memberships:
Gym and club memberships are often considered entertainment expenses of the upper classes. It has been noticed that higher-class couples often have clubs and gym memberships that describe their social and financial status.
However, the membership is considered an entertainment expense only if the membership is taken for leisure purposes, not for medical or therapeutic purposes.
Concerts And Events:
People often spend thousands of dollars on concerts and sports events but during divorce, they claim their inability to pay the amount to their spouse.
Money spent on these events is also considered to understand someone’s financial stability during a divorce. The frequency of attending such shows and how the tickets are bought (if from the black market) are also considered.
Hobbies And Recreational Activities:
People often spend thousands of dollars on their hobbies and recreational activities which are also known as entertainment expenses. Hobbies such as traveling, wine collection, watch and shoe collections, underwater diving, etc. hobbies often cost a hefty amount to pursue.
While determining alimony or spousal support, judges often look at these entertainment expenses to understand if the parties are hiding anything about their financial abilities.
5 Reasons Why Entertainment Expenses During A Divorce Matters:
Entertainment expenses are one of the vital factors when considering spousal support amounts and decisions regarding child custody as it highlights the standard of living and financial ability of the individuals. Here are the top 5 reasons why entertainment expenses during a divorce are essential:
Impact on Division Of Assets:
During a divorce, the court may want to see how each partner uses the joint financial resources for better clarity. Entertainment expenses can provide evidence of how both partners spend the money for their entertainment purpose or one partner dominates the whole expenses.
If one partner spends their joint saving on entertaining purposes such as going on trips, dinners, or club memberships, the court will definitely take into account this information while dividing the assets between partners to ensure equality. The partner who spends less on entertainment purposes might get the larger portion of the remaining assets.
In many cases, entertainment expenses are also essential to distinguish between marital and separate assets. If a partner can prove he spent his personal or inherited funds for entertainment purposes, the court may not consider it as entertainment expenses.
While considering entertainment expenses during a divorce, it is very important to figure out the origin of the fund. Individual funds that are spent on entertainment purposes also have an impact but not as much as joint saving funds.
Assessment Of Lifestyle:
One of the primary aims of divorce is to maintain a similar lifestyle between partners, even if there is a significant income disparity between them. Entertainment expenses allow the court to understand the lifestyle and standard of living that the couple enjoys during their happily married lives.
Analyzing their spending on entertainment purposes such as vacations, attending concerts, and dining at high-profile restaurants, the court will decide how much compensation or the asset will be divided among the partners so that both of them can maintain their lifestyles.
Depending on the types of entertainment expenses, couples can request the court to allow access to certain objects or facilities. If a vacation home or membership in a club in a different country is very essential to the lifestyle of a couple, they may request to retain access to these to ensure their standard of living.
Alimony Determination:
During the determination of spousal support, the court may want to look at the entertainment expenses of both partners to understand if they are hiding any financial statements.
Often husbands show their lower income and assets to ensure lower spousal support towards their wives after marriage but entertainment expenses expose their reality. In such cases, the court may question why they spend so much on entertainment purposes despite having a feeble economic condition or how they arrange such funds.
Also, if these entertainment expenses are necessary, such as if someone is making a movie review, or if someone joined yoga classes for health issues, then the honorable court might not consider these expenses as entertainment but necessary. However, in many cases, the court doesn’t consider expenses for a honeymoon or a date night dinner (if rarely) as entertainment expenses.
Analyzing entertainment expenses can determine whether the spousal support will be short-term or long-term. If the court believes, a short-term spousal support can help the other partner to continue the lifestyle, then the court may order for a short-term alimony otherwise, a long-term alimony will be the option.
Evaluating The Financial Needs:
While each partner plans for the financial budget after their divorce, entertainment expenses play an important role in it. Planning for the future considering the entertainment costs will give a clear idea to the partners about how their cost of living look like once they are separated.
Knowing their own personalities and behaviors, partners can plan their lifestyle after their divorce, such as how much dinner can they afford after divorce or if they can travel around the world like they used to do in their married life.
Entertainment expenses also ensure that the couple is practical about their financial needs. For example, once partners identify their requirements regarding travel, hotel, memberships, and other entertaining objects, they can submit a realistic amount to the court, otherwise, unrealistic demands will hamper the proceedings of the court.
Avoid Potential Disputes:
Entertainment expenses can become one of the most disputed topics among the partners. One may think spending on some topics is necessary whereas the other partner may believe it is nothing but luxury.
Hence, presenting all the related documents to the court can prevent potential disputes between partners regarding the issue. From a normal point of view, many expenses by a partner may seem unnecessary but in reality, they might be very necessary depending on his physical, mental, and financial conditions.
When the matter arrives at the court, the court will make its decision by analyzing all fronts and both partners have to respect that decision. Hence, the agreements about alimony and property distribution will be smoother than expected.
However, the lawyers can present entertainment expenses during a divorce strategically to receive favorable financial outcomes. One lawyer may argue that spending too much money on gym and yoga classes is unnecessary and luxurious whereas another lawyer may argue that the expenditure was necessary due to the health conditions of the client.
In short, entertainment expenses during a divorce give a clear picture of the lifestyle of the couple. The court by its decision tries to maintain the same quality of life even after divorce and hence the court considers entertainment expenses to determine various alimony, property division, and child custody.
Also Read: 8 Important Tips To Prepare Secretly For A Divorce
Also Read: 9 Tips To Tell Your Spouse That You Want A Divorce
