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Question about dividing assets...is this fair??


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My soon-t0-be-ex is a CPA and I do not understand finances all that much. We have agreed to split everything 50/50 but the way in which he has equalized the division of our assets is not making my attorney happy. But I also have a heart and don't want to screw my ex because my atty can be really aggressive and aims high for everything. Here's the issue: My husband is keeping our marital home for now, and I have moved into a townhome. We have $50,000 in equity for the marital home. Rather than giving me 50% of the equity, my ex is keeping 100% equity and making it up by giving me the difference from his retirement. The problem my atty has is that I cannot touch the retirement money without being penalized or waiting 15-20 years for retirement. If my ex sells the home, he gets that cash without any penalty. My atty wants me to have more liquid cash. My ex took out a $40,000 line of credit to pay me $25,000 in cash so that I have some liquid cash...and he gets $15,000 so that he has some liquid cash as well. My ex does have $120,000 stock fund which is non-marital asset (which I cannot touch and I am fine with this). My atty thinks my ex can tap into that to give me more liquid cash so that my ex doesn't get all the equity. I feel bad for making him go into the stock fund...we have 5 kids and I know he will be using that for college and weddings. We are both in our 40s, and I am a teacher. With the alimony and child support (6 years), I will be on my own after that. With the current scenario, I will have $25,000 liquid cash and about $100,000 of my ex's retirement, plus my pension which won't be huge because I just started teaching 5 years ago. Any advice? Thanks.

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Listen to your attorney.

 

What makes you think that your ex is going to pay for college and weddings? You better get that in writing, and you better be specific about it. Do you want him to pay for your children to go to community college, or and Ivy League School? Do you want your daughters to get married at the Justice of the Peace, or have the "wedding of their dreams".

 

I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know the laws in your state. However, I know that in South Carolina I'm entitled to half of my husband's 401K and half of his retirement. So now you need to decide which is greater, yours or his. And, what happens if he takes money out of either of those funds, leaving only a fraction for you? What if he gets sick or has an accident and can no longer work? You need to protect yourself and your children.

 

I go back to my original statement...listen to your attorney. You're paying him big bucks for a reason.

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You know the tax and equity risk computations are complicated. Way to complicated for asking answers on a public forum. No mentions of debt on the house, equity is all good but there is risk on sales price.

 

No idea if your attorney is also a CPA. You need a review by a wealth manager to lay out various options, then you can evaluate the risk level most comfortable to you.

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threebyfate

This is a no-brainer. Listen to your lawyer. He's got it right.

 

Also, your ex-husband is banking on real estate price increases since the current market in many jurisdictions, is deflated. As far as him using the stock fund for weddings and college funds, what's the guarantee that he will?

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Im curious, is your STBX getting half your retirement?

 

I remember telling my X she was not getting MY house and she agreed to let me have it. That was very generous of her. But she knew if she tried to do that I would go after her retirement which was much better than my own. If all else failed I would have burned the SOB to the ground. We left each others retirement alone thankfully.

 

Thing is, A home can and will eventually be paid off and can be sold. Retirement OTOH is for LIFE. That money will never stop comming in.

 

I have to say you are pretty well off. Im 50 and could only wish I had assets like that. Reading your posting I had a "are you kidding me?" moment.

Edited by g450
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I would accept it, provided i had an ironclad agreement that the stock money would be used for helping the kids with college, and only for that.

The kind of agreement who's breaking could constitute the subject of a lawsuit or even fraud in law.

 

College nowadays is basically the high-school of the 50's, kinda needed and it will be needed even more because the US is going for a market economy where there is very high specialization, which you learn in college; the blue collar jobs have gone and you know it. Short of being a brilliant programmer, or having a knack for business, self-help and bring good at a mechanical job [mechanic, locksmith, plumber], you need that degree.

 

I would still talk to a CPA, just to be sure.

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I agree with MsDeb's answer.:)

 

I also live in a state where the wife is entitled to half of the spouse's 401K and pension.

 

My D is in a messy divorce right now, and her H blew through $20,000.00+ of his 401K and pension in the year after she kicked him out and filed for divorce. The judge has ruled he has to pay her the half he spent.;)

 

I live in a state where if you can prove adultery, the assets are divided 60/40 instead of 50/50. My D has also proven adultery/fraud and has been awarded half of all the money he spent on his 2 OW over a 5 year period.:bunny:

How was your townhome purchased? Or was it just rented?

 

Please listen carefully to your lawyer, as you don't want to get taken advantaged of!

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threebyfate

sher871, just went back on your previous threads. It appears you keep second-guessing your attorney. LS is not the place to do so, since many, many of us live in different jurisdictions, whether country or state. Divorce, family, tax and property laws can differ wildly.

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