Question:  My wife and I are going through a divorce.  The problem is that she's spending a huge amount of money.  She has moved to Buckhead and she shops at Lenox Mall and at Phipps Plaza all the time. 

She buys from Tiffany, Hermes and Chanel.  She's become a regular at Neiman Marcus Atlanta.  We went to Neiman's and she was recognized by at least 5 saleswomen.  She buys expensive jewelry and watches on a weekly basis.  I know that she's actually having dresses made for her by a tailor in Buckhead who gets fabrics from Italy.

I have been paying for everything because she doesn't have a job.  She stopped working when she had our child.  I agreed to pay all her credit cards until we finally get divorced.

She wasn't always like this.  She grew up in Dawson County and worked at a strip mall selling shoes and we moved to Forsyth County after she got pregnant and we got married.  She never wanted new clothes and she said she thought costly jewelry was a waste of money.  She went to mall chains to get her hair cut and she'd save money by clipping coupons.

But now during the divorce she's really changed.  It's costing me a fortune.  And yesterday she said she wants some elective plastic surgery; she wants fuller lips.  What can I do?

S.S. in Cumming

Answer:  You need to request a temporary hearing and argue that she is dissipating marital assets by her frivolous purchases.  If her standard of living during the marriage was well below what it is now (while you are going through a divorce), a judge can order her to stop the spending or fashion another remedy, like having you pay her a certain amount of money per month while the case is pending.

It sounds like to need to act quickly before you suffer major financial damage.  A hearing would be held in the superior court of the county where the divorce was filed.  In your case that would appear to be in either the Forsyth County Superior Court or the Fulton County Superior Court.

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