CHAPTER 18: Make sure your documents considers

CHAPTER 18: Make sure your documents considers

debts and assets

If your young, you may have almost nothing, but your future income on the table, but as your relationship goes on and you gain many more “assets” and their financial friend “liabilities” together this becomes more and more important. You may have bought a car, a house, or even have a business together. These are items that need negotiated and signed off on in your Marital Separation Agreement.

You might not be an accountant, but it might be good to at least understand there is stuff that is worth something and stuff you have to replay. In fact in this process if you don't consider these debts, you might find yourself with items that your playing for but have no ability to take care of as it is owned by your spouse.

Step on all money on the table and all bills on the table. Money should pay off your bills and liabilities before there even is a negotiation. This is all part of your strategy that you discussed with the lawyer. Remember, know what you are playing for and know what's important to you. Your lawyer or negotiator should line up and work toward your goals.

Try to start with better than half if you can. Never take less than half as this is the moral ideal of fair. But as you know this whole process is not about fair its about protecting yourself from a run away spouse. So get items you can leverage for more. Get things that have sentimental value or hold influence over them accomplishing their goals. Use these to reduce what you give them.

You may run into issues with a stay at home (no-income) spouse. A judge must sign off on this agreement as well as your wife so always remember in an “equable” state that judge is a third party that might look at you and say no your trying to take advantage of that poor women. He has no knowledge of you or her actions, he just must look at the facts. If you don't bring the facts, you both are equal to start, then its up to the money you both have and divide it in to. You 100% + your spouse 0% = 50% You and 50% your spouse. Who lost this one? Some how the person that did less got rewarded for doing less. Yep, that’s our socialist system, so beware.

A smooth handed layer might be able to say well, she could with her education at least get a minimum wage job and she does have some side jobs she's been getting paid for. Oh, ya did you not get paid rent by your mother and the repayment of that loan form your brother. You might just find she gets more money they her claimed $0/m.

So, you were a little further in life and have at least one child. Once again if you got guilted in to this it does not matter. Your a daddy and odds are your want to be the influence you were meant to be on them, but again I warn kids are NOT glue to fix a broken relationship! They just make what was broke more complicated by entangling more lives in the destructive power of divorce. Mom Inc. comes into play here. You are going to be on the hook for child-support because unless you proved your spouse unfit, which is a near miracle. The cards are stacked against you, Guy! Maybe if she was snorting cocain off the belly of a prostitute you might have something to stand on, but odds are your best bet is to wait it out and she her drowned in her own financial incompetence. I truly pray this is not the case of course as its really about the child that are in that house. The forced relationship after divorce of to ex-spouses if no joy. Just like you never liked her boyfriend you will not find a lot of anything in her either. The negotiation you are doing in your marital separation is just training wheels for the next 18 years (until your youngest turned 18 or becomes emancipated). Remember every communication with your spouse is now a business transaction and you do not have to do them. The ones you need to do are written on that piece of paper with your lawyer. You can try to wander away from it, but it should be treated as the bar. Else you can start wondering far from what you should and giving to someone that never gives back, which is the real reason your getting divorced. Your ex-spouse is out for themselves. You need to watch your back around someone like this. You can make it a game of collecting negotiable items that you can use in the future or right now. Most important just like in your relationship choose your battles.

You finally have some power over your life back to make your decisions.

*** USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I am not a lawyer and this is not to be construed as legal advice. For any legal decision see the proper legal representative. You are the master of your soul.