I have a meeting with my attorney in 12 days. We'll see how that goes. A question I often get is, Do you have a good attorney? She has a good reputation. Typically works with business owners and did a local billionaires divorce, so I think she is good. My wife chose an attorney that also has an excellent reputation.
It's hard to believe how this works. The damage I have done to myself in trying to save the marriage is hard to comprehend. At the time she had her affair I was only worth $1mm. If I had just pulled the ripcord then it literally would have saved me $1mm because of how much I've grown my business. There also would have been no chance of support (spousal or child support). Now that I was successful, even though she has torn me apart over those 5 years and made it very hard to be at work, she gets hundreds of thousands of dollars plus more than likely $4-7k per month.
Some say "it's just money". But we're talking blood, sweat, and tears. Not to mention how the marriage counselors pushed me to be more vulnerable and to share my feelings, all of which were weaponized and turned against me by my STBXW. It's still hard for me to comprehend how this is happening. I worked to do everything right - loved my family, loved my wife, fought for the marriage, didn't hide assets or play any games, continued to work the right way, I did everything that was asked of me and more, and now its all being used against me.
And if this was going to be a fair deal, I could deal with that to some degree. But if they cut everything in half and then I get a 35% tax liability the way the math works she gets 72% and I walk with 28%. I just can't believe that's how the system works.
And on top of that if I owe her support based on the profits from the business that I bought from her - I just can't. I'm sure I'm overreacting and I need to just settle down and wait this out to see how this goes, but its a lot to take.
