No Lawyer Divorce Is Not For Everyone
The Wall Street Journal ran an article today in which a couple, in the absence of lawyers, easily divided their assets on the way to an easy and amicable divorce. This scenario, I am afraid, has limited applicability.
The article details the divorce of Tim and Edra Blixseth, who were married for twenty five years and, together, amassed a fortune worth two billion dollars. Apparently, the couple was able to sit together, share a bottle of fine wine, and divide their wealth in a relatively short time.
For most couples, a divorce is far more complicated than deciding who gets the 420 acre estate and who gets control of the fleet of corporate jets. For most, a division of the assets is simply not that easy. Assets, like homes and automobiles, are generally encumbered by debt. The parties are generally so leveraged that assets must be liquidated in order to distribute the equity.
Since the Blixseths had adult children, they did not have to address the issues of child custody or visitation. Often, these issues are more emotional and demanding than the economic issues.
Absent greed, there was no reason why the Blixseths could not easily settle their case. The multi-billion dollar marital estate left both parties with more than adequate wealth to support their luxurious lifestyle or to replace any asset given up as part of the divorce settlement
Often, it is the less affluent divorce that requires good lawyering to settle. In a case, where there are insufficient assets and income to support both parties in the marital lifestyle, a couple of hundred dollars a month in child support or spousal maintenance payments makes a big difference. I am certain that part of what made the Blixseths’ divorce so easy is that they did not have to worry if they would have enough cash flow to make their monthly mortgage payments.
This is just a general comment on divorce in NY. I moved to NY a few months ago from PA and have made some friends in the neighborhood. One woman is now gettig a divorce and is hysterical. She was married to this man for 20 years and gave up what might have been a good career as an architect to stay home and raise the kids. He owns a business he inhereted from his father and had an income of about 500K a year. About half of that he plowed back into his business as Shareholder Loans every year. He also had an affair with a woman he hired and was arrested and pleaded guilty to sexual harassment. His business is worth about 5 million given all the property he bought with the "Shareholder Loans".
Given that brief summary this woman is hysterical because the divorce laws in NY basically say she is entitled to virtually nothing. Minimal child support of about 50K a year (they have two kids living at home and one in college) because much of his income goes back into the business. She is not entitled to any part of the increase in value of the business because it is his even though she put her entire career on hold. She will get virtually no maintenace even though in most states she would get maintenance for life.
In short, NY divorce laws really screw women and children. She is looking at having to sell the family house and give up the lifestyle she and the kids have enjoyed all their lives. The laws here strike me as so completely unfair that somethign really has to be done. This damned country yacks about "family values" and lies to us about the importance of family and then writes laws like this that allow an admitted sexual harasser and a cheater to simply walk away with everything. It just shows how two-faced this state and country really are.