Will a court compensate a spouse for the other spouse’s use of marital monies to fund an extramarital relationship? What about for frivolous spending? Or a gambling addiction? These are questions often asked by divorce clients as financial disputes are often a factor in the ending of a marriage. How far will a court go in addressing financial irresponsibility during a marriage?

Typically, a court will not reimburse or penalize spouses for spending decisions made during the marriage. In a trial court decision upheld by the Superior Court on April 10, Schultz v Schultz, __ A.3d __ , 2018 Pa Super. 83, Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nathaniel C. Nichols opined, “It is not the role of the court to recoup expenditures made during the marriage by one party that the other party does not know about or agree with, or to make a party whole again.”