Also known as: dissipations · dissipate · dissipated · dissipating
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
Wasteful or inequitable use of marital or community property for personal benefit, especially when divorce is imminent. Courts consider such conduct when equitably apportioning assets and may charge the dissipating spouse for the lost value.
Wasteful or inequitable use of marital or community property for personal benefit, especially when divorce is imminent. Courts consider such conduct when equitably apportioning assets and may charge the dissipating spouse for the lost value.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Attenuation of the connection between an illegal search or arrest and subsequently obtained evidence, or the natural loss over time of evanescent evidence such as alcohol in the bloodstream. When the taint has dissipated, the evidence may be admissible despite the initial illegality.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Attenuation of the connection between an illegal search or arrest and subsequently obtained evidence, or the natural loss over time of evanescent evidence such as alcohol in the bloodstream. When the taint has dissipated, the evidence may be admissible despite the initial illegality.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Dylan Duffy and Destiny Davis are divorcing after ten years of marriage. While the petition is pending, Dylan sells the couple's vacation home and spends the proceeds on a sports car and vacations for himself. At trial the court finds dissipation, charges Dylan with the full value of the home, and awards Destiny a correspondingly larger share of the remaining marital estate.
After her husband's death, Deborah Dunn claims a community-property share of his ERISA pension. The court holds that ERISA's anti-alienation rule prevents her children from forcing immediate distribution that would dissipate the fund, preserving the pension for its intended retirement purpose.
Dakota Industries holds title to real property as joint tenants with Drake Logistics. When Drake attempts to sever the tenancy by secret deed to dissipate the asset and defeat Dakota's survivorship rights, the court sets aside the deed and restores the joint tenancy to protect the estate from improper dissipation.
A court may charge the dissipating spouse with the value of assets wasted or used for non-marital purposes when equitably apportioning the marital estate. The statute directs the court to consider each party's contribution or dissipation in the acquisition, preservation, or appreciation of marital property.
Supporting sources
Police arrest Diego Duarte without probable cause and hold him for six hours. During that time an intervening valid warrant issues for an unrelated offense. After receiving Miranda warnings and consulting counsel, Duarte confesses to an old robbery. The court admits the confession because the passage of time, the new warrant, and the warnings have dissipated the taint of the initial illegal arrest.
Officers seize items during an unlawful entry at Dustin Donovan's property. Three days later, an independent witness voluntarily brings the police additional photographs linking Donovan to the underlying conduct. The court admits the photographs because the witness's voluntary action has dissipated any taint from the illegal search.
Danielle Dixon is arrested for drunk driving and refuses a breath test. Officers obtain a warrantless blood draw two hours later. The court evaluates the totality of circumstances and admits the BAC results only after confirming that obtaining a warrant would not have significantly undermined the test's efficacy.
The connection between illegal police conduct and later evidence dissipates when sufficient time passes, intervening circumstances occur, or the misconduct is not flagrant. Once the taint has dissipated, the evidence may be admitted under the attenuation doctrine.
Supporting sources
The natural dissipation of alcohol in the blood does not create a per se exigency. Officers must still obtain a warrant when they can do so without significantly undermining the efficacy of the test, unless the totality of circumstances shows true exigency.
Supporting sources
…to say nothing of the far greater number of contingent beneficiaries, would impose a severe burden on the plan, and would likely dissipate its advantages. These are practical matters in which we should be reluctant to disturb the judgment of the state authorities. Accordingly we overrule appellant's constitutional objections…