Very Touchy Subject....Divorce

[blackpowder]

Justice is blind.
People are not. Pendulums swing.
I believe I have felt certain biases.
Farma. You seem worried about your kids. Fair nuff. Its the biggest life decision they make. Nothing you can do except cover your ass-ets and pray.

[blackpowder]

One of 3 Ds kill every farm.
Death, Debt, Divorce.


I do not go to any seminar shit any more. In the last 25 years I"ve heard it all from every salesman who qualifed for a govt grant. Farmtech type agendas half succession shit.
I have challenged some of those ****s to have sessions on divorce or mental health issues and guess what? Only succession planning sells.
Country *** Guide makes me puke.
If you got the sand to keep your farm together for a lifetime, you dont need to pay some **** 50k to help you now.
I have only met 2 people worth their pay and only one of them worked for poor people.
Ah the problems of the wealthy.
Farmers are funny. Let em talk for 30 secs and I can tell how much term debt they have.

My mother has a foresight gift.
She never moved off the home place cause she had a premonition. It was right. So the main base was spared. Good thing too as I have a place to live now, in her basement.
My 25 years of equity build and growth capital was lost completely for 12 years of legal marriage.

May God help any who have to spend their good years wading thru the shit the nasty people of this earth can dish out. Believe me, divorce forces your nose in it for a long time.

My advice. Only marry sane people with no disorders.
If you marry a city girl, sell the cows.

Yah fk, theres a lot of good experiences out there. Count your blessings. Or go work for Disney.
You asked about the possibles.
I have stories.
More to come?

[malleefarmer]

As much as I hate to ask.... anyone know a wealthy woman that got ****ed over by a gold digging man in a divorce?

That's why I started this thread gender neutral. I didn't want to come down on either side...the laws "should" be the same no matter what.

My brother in the big smoke had a high flying wife earning 250 to 300k a year working for IBM in the mining industry worked in west Australia flew home to Adelaide on weekends. He was studying to be a architect.

2 kids she found another man in the west he relocated to Adelaide.

50% shared custody no maintainence or anything paid to my brother whilst he was studying now if the shoe was on the other foot as farmaholic allued to hmmm.

[sawfly1]

fun fun fun, been down that road, i am not a lawyer
and will read other posts here in depth when i have time.

lots of ways to get screwed.
some lessons learned the hard way.
1. if you enter a marriage with cash.
and fall on hard times. like the 80s do not use that cash to survive.
maintain it. keep it under your name.
instead borrow the money you need.
if you spend your pre marr. cash it no longer counts as being brought in.to he marr.
makes no sense but that is how it works.

2 just a general thing, another screw job, if your parents die young , you inherit while married,
becomes matt. property. the spouse inherits after the divorce, your inheritance gets split ,theirs does not.

3 my sister ran into a situation , where her spouse's father had his will, set up that , the commercial property ( estate) her spouse inherited , was somehow never to be deemed matt. property.
( how is that possible )

while her farm property inheritance with no stipulation was matt. property. crazy.

and the lawyers were mixed on whether it would stand up in court.
you're then faced with an expensive legal battle .

unbelievable. if it were to stand up , what would be the point of the matt. property laws

the law is an ass

[Richard5]

Yep lets just keep the girls happy and avoid lawyers at all costs.

A very close friend of mine has spent the last year working with one of the top big accounting firms in Saskatoon. He was walking me through his new plan...I almost choked..he went from one corporate account to a woven web of two corps, a holding co, two family trusts and two personal accounts. The way I see it that Should be good for at least $30k per year in addditional accounting and legal fees, probably multiple audits and lots of staggered tax deadlines.

Ache - That must be some farm to work through a set up like that. I know from my experience, it never was a pushy meeting. At no time did anyone seem like they were "selling me" something and if I didn't decide anything that day it was just fine. In fact, an option was suggested a few years earlier that I should keep in mind and it was me that said we need to look into it further. Options are shown with very clear positives and negatives and what I liked about it all was there was always talk way down the road and what was my exit from it or what hurdles my son may/may not have with its setup.

For you friend, I would think it was handled the same and he chose which route that made sense for his operation.

On the flip side, we can make this very simple by just paying more tax each year and less focus on deferring income

[poorboy]

Hold mortgage

Could you retain a mortgage on the property? One of them low rate deals with the option to charge 20 percent interest. Most mortgages have that obscure clause.

You forgive the mortgage in your will.

[westernvicki]

Taking 50% of the asset base from the farmer can be the equivalent to taking the professional papers away from a Dr. or teacher or a nurse, as it can interfere with the farmers ability to maintain a viable business and the career.

The recent increase in assets from 2005 to date has seen asset values increase 4 x in many cases.
However, current income is unlikely to sustain the debt on a farm which may be forced to valuate 50% of that asset increase, and pay out this sum in a divorce. This type of division can be highly destabilizing to the career of the farmer, and the farm unit that is involved.

Given that farm units are often more complex than those of our grandparents, a prenup is just good business for everyone involved.

[blackpowder]

It is a necessity.
As are life insurance policies should something happen to farming child.

[blackpowder]

Exactly half of every cent leftover and half before tax of all future cents if any support.


Mid month paychecks for some often $0 after maintenance.

If your job pays you 60k a year.
If 2 kids. After support on 60 and income tax on 60 you will live on 30 for the year.

If you self employed then lawyers have field day. Maintenance stays out of it.

Try paying off that machinery while paying support based on arbitrary (up to 100) % of depreciation added back to income.
Now replace that machinery.

Or you can pay for an audit into what shares in your company are worth. Paying those snotty assessors up front real fun. Yes, you do all the paying.
The other party of course their lawyer simply takes his fee out of the settlement. Cozy.

Now, we havent touched on the cost of court appointed parenting evaluations and mediation. IF you play their game, those educated idiots are only $300/hr.

Laws intent to assume house still intact. ie. lifestyle to which they were acustomed.

No wonder self representing more common.

[blackpowder]

About self representing. Obviously I'm not ambitous enuf to bother for long run.
But next time I get a Sunday night Purolator package telling me to appear in court Friday, you can bet I'll be going alone the first time. Mayswell ring up more time $ for the other party.
This shit is planned weeks in advance and sprung on you at last minute. Shock and awe. Fk em.

[farmaholic]

BP....will you be free of mandatory obligations once the youngest is through post secondary or will you have lifetime hellimony to pay.

Hopefully one day you will be free of the bullshit....something to look forward to. I've heard it may never really end because.of the "common bond" (kids)....events, grads, convications, marriage, grandkids, etc etc etc......

Take care man.

[blackpowder]

Freedom from lawyers will be over after post secondary as luckily I dont have spousal. At which point she will be broke.