The Pain of Divorce
Until recently, I was a financial adviser.
During the 50 years of dealing with customers I saw my fair share of divorce situations.
Robbie and John had been married for many years. They had two beautiful children and were financially secure.
John worked hard in his business and diligently put together a great income and developed a saleable business.
John worked hard in his business and diligently put together a great income and developed a saleable business.
Robbie worked in the public service and also produced a very good income.
Two things went wrong before the third (disaster) occurred. Robbie had a reputation of playing up which was unbeknown to her husband. John had an injury to his back which precluded him from running his business. Sure, he had income protection that that was insufficient to provide him with the replacement income which he had lost. The business collapsed to the point where it had no value.
Once the income stopped, Robbie decided that it was time to end the relationship. She had plenty of choices as she had many relationships. Eventually, Robbie found a guy in Queensland who could provide her with the income that she required and the lifestyle that suited her personality.
Before they split, I explained to them that the whole, divided by two, never provided the capital or income which was expected. In fact, it is usually a disaster.
Robbie had a particularly bad vindictive approach to the divorce. Her expenses were horrific….well in excess of $120,000. John’s expenses were similar.
When it came time to divide the assets, there was her superannuation and her substantial income together with a small superannuation for John and a business which was worthless. The house had a reasonable debt which needed to be taken into account.
The problem was that Johnny trusted Robbie when it came to the discussions associated with the division of assets and income. He lost badly.
The courts will always decide how assets and income will be split. Cost of caring for the children will also be taken into account. However, when you have one party who decides to ‘rip off’ the other, the results are far from equal.
If only there had existed a Divorce Checklist, at that time. At least Johnny would have had a fair chance (as he did not have too many sleeping partners who were lawyers!).
When you obtain the divorce checklist you will find that there are many explanations which will help you recover a fear or share of the assets which may be available. Additionally, you will discover that there are many things which are rarely mentioned by other professional advisers. These ‘other’ items could prove to be quite valuable to you.
