General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Stay-at-Home Mom Facing Divorce? Don't Expect Alimony - Forbes article [View all]laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)you said marital assets are not necessarily split equally. This is often true. However, people who say everything is split evenly often neglect to mention that includes debt. My ex racked up a bunch of debt, much of it I was unaware of (he made me a shareholder of his multiple businesses and took out lines of credit). I had to pay off some of it, despite the fact *I* wasn't the one who spent that money. We eventually agreed he could keep the house and I would be absolved of all the debt. He recently sold that house for $100,000 more than the total debt. Bad move on my part, but I was so scared of the debt.
I do let my ex have the kids as much as he wants. Sadly, that's not very often but he does live far away so it's not really his fault. He has to drive many hours to visit. I sometimes meet him halfway. Anyway, one time, several years into our split, after 1.5 weeks of having all 4 kids to himself (his girlfriend who was his usual crutch for childcare decided she was tired of babysitting and went travelling) he dropped the kids off with a "I have no idea how you do this ALL of the time. I can't do this. OMG, do they (the middle 2) always fight like this? And do they ever eat a LOT!" I did feel a bit smug, lol. It was his first taste of being on his own as a dad...even when we were together, he was uninterested in participating as a parent when the kids were little. He's respected me a lot more since, that's for sure.