[ PART 2 ]

SAVE YOUR ASS(ETS)

Divorce is divisive, and in its traditional form, it is a terrific destroyer of wealth. According to a study by Jay Zagorsky, a research scientist at Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research, traditional divorce diminishes a person’s wealth by an average of 77 percent.

Seventy-seven percent. That’s more than three-quarters of your wealth—your retirement savings, the equity in your home, your cash, your household assets, the value of the business you’ve worked so hard to build—gone, divided in some fashion, swallowed up in lawyers’ fees and all the other outrageous costs that lay in wait if you choose the traditional legal system.

In this section, I vividly illustrate the potentially astronomical costs of divorce by sharing another segment from my own story. I then share my learnings from that very costly journey (remember: the wise person learns from the fool’s mistakes!) and demonstrate, through my story of the Cunninghams, how you can end your marriage while still preserving the vast majority of your hard-earned assets.

KAREN’S STORY

If, in the early days of my journey through divorce, someone had suggested that I’d end up retaining over five lawyers and incurring well over $500,000 in divorce-related costs before all was said and done, I fully expect I would have laughed in their face.

Unfortunately, they would have had the last laugh, because that’s exactly what happened!

Like so many divorcing couples, my ex-husband and I began with a plan to end things quickly—to determine amongst ourselves who’d get what and minimize the need for legal wrangling and wrestling. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans o’ mice and men.

As you read my story, you may catch yourself shaking your head and saying to yourself, “Impossible!” I urge you to suspend your disbelief as I have learned since then that it is shockingly representative, and if perhaps you are a skeptic of my blunt opinions, ask around.