Garrozi v. Dastas

Background

A married woman sued her husband and two third parties after separating and after a local divorce was granted to the husband for the wife’s adultery. She alleged the husband had secretly transferred or encumbered property to others to hide assets and avoid paying alimony and legal costs. A special master and the trial court found the transfers were simulated, set aside the contracts, and calculated the marital (community) gains to award the wife money for her share. The husband had claimed large personal travel and medical expenditures during the marriage.

Reasoning

The high court addressed four main questions: whether the wife lost her share because of the divorce for adultery, whether $22,000 of the husband’s travel spending could be treated as marital gain, whether the wife could force a liquidation and money judgment for her share, and whether previously awarded alimony and certain fees were proper. Relying on the applicable Porto Rico civil code, the Court held the wife did not forfeit her community interest. It rejected treating the husband’s past travel expenditures as a recoverable marital gain because the law gives the husband broad authority to manage community property during marriage absent fraud or explicit legal restriction. The Court also said the wife could obtain liquidation and a money award for her share. Finally, the Court upheld awards for alimony and court-approved divorce expenses but found no legal basis for a $1,500 counsel fee allowed below.

Real world impact

The case leaves a divorced spouse able to collect her lawful share of marital gains despite a divorce for fault. It prevents courts from converting ordinary past spending by the husband into a forced repayment unless wrongful fraud or a statutory limit appears, and it narrows recoverable counsel fees.