No, W has no family local. I can take a stand on her moving out now, although that's contrary to some DB principals that it is better to work on things if we're still in the same house. But... it is a fast rising option. What do you guys think?
We're now a single income family, and in this economy it's very hard to go into further debt to support an apartment for her (although the thought of having it come from her "home equity" has some perverse appeal - it drains our daughter's future, but makes the realities come home for W).
A huge stumbling block for me is that if I'm brutal on the financial aspect of the separation then I put my DD5 in harms way. She will be 50% with me in a beautiful house, and 50% in a dumpy apartment by the train tracks. And I keep wondering if that's what I want for my daughter... and it's not. Which means either giving more to W then she is entitled by law, or having D live here all the time, and allowing W to spend time here and pick up daugher from here (which would be Cake eating big time).
By the way, W will certainly believe that I am a real $hit because I don't care enough about her and DD5 to separate in a way that lets W live a reasonable life (transalion, she needs to own a condo). This will feed her contention that I'm clinging to her, and am in a "tit for tat" mode -- meaning that she wants out, and therefore I am extra harsh on financial settlement.
