One other thing...far be it for me to defend your H, but, and I cannot believe I am typing these words...attorneys can do as much harm as good in dissolution of marriage. I am experiencing this first hand. My attorney is a colleague of mine, I have worked with her on other cases, she is great and she is zealous in protecting me. Z's attorney is her friend. Z and I have each told our attorneys our divorce is amicable and that we plan to handle most of the negotiations on our own - and we have. He and I just hashed out alimony in a five minute telephone call. Then we each emailed our deal to our respective attorneys, with a blind copy to each other. Z's attorney's response to an extremely fair amount..."if that us what you want to pay her, I guess I won't get in your way." Remember, Z is an attorney. I doubt this would have been her response to a non-lawyer; she would have been more insistent that he pay less. Attorneys can ramp-up the negativity between the parties all the while trying to "protect" their clients' interests. It is their job and the nature of the beast and I do mean beast.
Extremely long-winded way of saying there may be an attorney behind your H's low-ball first offer. Sucks, I know. Why do you think I am looking at philosophy programs...
