Here’s Stanley’s story about his perfectly structured life and his surprise encounter with Equitable Division.
Stanley was a hard working, blue collar man. He earned a very modest income. He had a stay at home wife and five children. He controlled every dime that family spent. Literally. They had hard and fast rules that they lived by. They could only flush the toilet once, for example. They could only have one new pair of shoes per year. They never ate better than Kraft Macaroni or beans. Steak was never smelled in their house. They had one vehicle, a truck, which he drove. He kept the heat at 60 and the Air Conditioning at 80. They lived in a single wide trailer.
One day, Stanley’s wife had enough. She knew Stanley didn’t make much money so she didn’t have any hope of sufficient alimony to take care of herself and her children. She hoped she could at least get a job at Walmart so that she could earn some income. Stanley had never allowed her to work outside of the home.
Stanley’s wife hired us. We started asking questions.
It turns out that Stanley was a miser. The modest money he made was far greater than the money he spent. He had been hoarding it for many, many years. He had amassed a little better than a half a million dollars. Stanley’s wife had no idea.
Stanley thought it was his. He argued that it was his. After all, he contended, he earned it. His no account wife didn’t earn it. She was just a house wife. She didn’t do anything all day, just stay home with the kids.
Though Stanley’s wife could have been awarded some modest alimony, we told the judge that Stanley could keep his income, just make up for it in the division of property. His child support was set at a modest sum for his five children.
Stanley’s wife, confined to a single wide for year after year while kept barefoot, pregnant and in the galley kitchen, left that marriage with a cool $400,000 that she had earned with her blood, sweat, tears and tolerance of that ugly husband.
The children got several new pairs of shoes and pants and shirts and dresses…
That’s equitable division for you.
Michael helps all of our clients receive their fair share from our offices in Marietta, Atlanta, Gainesville, Lawrenceville, Canton and Savannah.