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Anyone ever go through a divorce with a child?


Royale with Cheese

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So my wife and I have officially filed for divorce.  Just waiting for my lawyer and her lawyer to review the paper work to sign off.

 

We're being very amicable towards each other.  Nothing contested (so far) on our end.  We still do get a long, we're in the process of selling our house and living in our existing house together for the next month or so.  We're splitting everything 50/50 except 401K...she's not going to take any of mine.  Instead of child support, I'll pay her health insurance since she can't be on mine now.  I'm also giving her a good chunk of my savings.  We're both being very good to each other right now.

 

I didn't want to be in the relationship anymore but at the same time, it's still pretty hard because I've been with her for 6 years....and we have a 3 year old.

We tried to explain to him last night what was happening and he wasn't getting it.  We just said that we aren't going to live much longer in this house and we will now have two houses.  He seemed excited.

 

If anyone has been through this, any advice?  What should I expect?

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That sucks man i'm sorry to hear it.   My brother went through divorce after adopting her son and then they had a child together. Just always focus on what's best for the child on both sides.  Just make sure any agreement you come to is in writing and done through the courts.   Get it documented, get it notarized, have a lawyer do everything that way in 5 years nothing comes back to bite you in the rear end.    Feelings change and something she might have thought was fair at the time suddenly isn't fair anymore especially if you're doing well down the road.    

 

 

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I think it’s better to get divorced than to stay for the kids.... right now he doesn’t fully understand what is happening. It’s good for the kid that you and your wife get along at least for now and you got LUCKY that no child support. I know that each state has its own laws and different things to expect, like I live in Washington and it is a very pro-mom state. I think the best thing you can do for your kid is just be honest. And I would also sing just the two of us by will Smith a lot... but that may be just me

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1 minute ago, Soda Popinski said:

Just make sure any agreement you come to is in writing and done through the courts.   Get it documented, get it notarized, have a lawyer do everything that way in 5 years nothing comes back to bite you in the rear end.    Feelings change and something she might have thought was fair at the time suddenly isn't fair anymore especially if you're doing well down the road.    

 

 

 

This.  So much this.  Make sure your lawyer has his **** together because you may well end up paying for health insurance and a hefty dose of child support somewhere down the line if he doesn't.

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1 minute ago, Soda Popinski said:

everything my brother agreed to pay to his ex before the court dates was considered a "gift" so even though he paid, he still had to back pay child support.   took it right up the tail pipe.   

 

This is what I'm afraid of.  It's amicable now.  She's the only one who has the Attorney now.  We've both agreed to all the conditions and now I'm going to get an Attorney to review everything to make sure I'm protected.  

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1 minute ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

This is what I'm afraid of.  It's amicable now.  She's the only one who has the Attorney now.  We've both agreed to all the conditions and now I'm going to get an Attorney to review everything to make sure I'm protected.  

 

Get yourself a lawyer, NOW. Do not give her anything until a court order forces you to. There is no amicability possible. I tried the nice guy thing, "be the coparent" thing, be civil thing. And all that i ended up with was a whole lot of impoverishment and misery.

 

Be a dick, for your own sake. TRUST ME.

 

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get the attorney!!!!!   it seems like a lot of $$ now but buddy you don't know what a lot of money is yet until you look back after 16 years of child support and tally it up to over 100k dollars.  My father was paying on my brothers and sister, 3 kids, 700 a month.  When they turned 18 he had a  party.  

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7 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

This is what I'm afraid of.  It's amicable now.  She's the only one who has the Attorney now.  We've both agreed to all the conditions and now I'm going to get an Attorney to review everything to make sure I'm protected.  

 

Also, PM me, I'll give you specific examples as to why my situation leads me to respond like I did. It'll open your eyes.

 

3 minutes ago, Soda Popinski said:

 My father was paying on my brothers and sister, 3 kids, 700 a month.  When they turned 18 he had a  party.  

 

He got off easy.

Edited by joesixpack
butchery of the english language
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my kids were 16, 15 and 9 when my ex and i split, very amicably, but very much out of love.  We made it a point to put the kids first and we stuck to it.  Granted we didn't have a pot to piss in, so there really was nothing of value to negotiate, but even if there was, i probably would have acquiesced and let her have anything of substance....it's just stuff and money, you can always get more, eventually.  We couldn't have had a better experience of a divorce, no lawyers no fighting, downloaded some forms from the internet, found a notary, we both signed, 30 days later we got a letter of congratulations from the Commonwealth of Virginia.  All throughout and even still, the kids came first.  They saw the strain in our marriage, we wanted to put all of that behind us.  I think they were the winners in it all because we are all happier on the other side.  Best of luck and if you need a shoulder or an ear, reach out.  

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Sorry to hear this. I've just gone through this same process between July 2017 and a month ago when we officially went to court to get the dissolution. I have 12 and 8 year old boys. 

 

They did understand when we told them last summer; hard, HARD conversation. We are both very amicable towards each other, like your situation. She had a lawyer do all the paperwork; I had one review it all, but didn't have one on retainer. 

She makes a lot less than me so I pay a good amount monthly for alimony, child support, and split expenses. 

 

Best wishes; PM me if you ever have any questions or concerns. It's a long process and mentally very tough no matter how amicable you are towards each other.

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Just now, Seasons1992 said:

She makes a lot less than me so I pay a good amount monthly for alimony, child support, and split expenses. 

 

Depending on your state, support is irrelevant to income disparity. My divorce is proof of this, the ex makes way more than I do, yet I pay her a hefty support payment which she managed to get increased...twice. Because I didn't have a lawyer and tried to be a nice guy.

 

?

 

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1 minute ago, The Poojer said:

my kids were 16, 15 and 9 when my ex and i split, very amicably, but very much out of love.  We made it a point to put the kids first and we stuck to it.  Granted we didn't have a pot to piss in, so there really was nothing of value to negotiate, but even if there was, i probably would have acquiesced and let her have anything of substance....it's just stuff and money, you can always get more, eventually.  We couldn't have had a better experience of a divorce, no lawyers no fighting, downloaded some forms from the internet, found a notary, we both signed, 30 days later we got a letter of congratulations from the Commonwealth of Virginia.  All throughout and even still, the kids came first.  They saw the strain in our marriage, we wanted to put all of that behind us.  I think they were the winners in it all because we are all happier on the other side.  Best of luck and if you need a shoulder or an ear, reach out.  

 

This is what I hope happens and the way it stays.  

I'm giving her all the furniture because I make a lot more than what she makes.  I don't want her to struggle because she is the mother of my child.  Our son comes first, if we don't get a long and constantly have tension, he's affected.  We don't want that.  

 

We're still in the same house now and will be for the next at least 30 days...so far so good.  She actually went with me to look at an apartment.

We have agreed to keep him in the same school district.  We're going to live close to each other.  Still have dinner with all of us maybe once a week or every other week.

We don't hate each other, we just aren't good together.

 

I'm talking to a few lawyers later today to make sure I'm protected.  

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I've never been divorced but my parents split when I was young.  The only advice I'll give here is NEVER...EVER talk negatively about your ex-wife to your child.  At this moment it seems as though the two of you are getting along but that may change at some point.  Even if it does...DO NOT SINK TO THAT LEVEL.  There's nothing positive to be gained from it.

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5 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

This is what I hope happens and the way it stays. 


For your sake, I hope it stays that way, too.

 

But never underestimate the possibility of the situation changing to your detriment. You have to protect yourself, first.

 

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I moved out and into a friends house for a couple/few weeks, then found an apartment and lived there for a couple months, then we decided to co-habitate to kind of help each other out financially, we led our own lives, sometimes we ate as all together but not often and we made sure to let the kids know that it was nothing more than that and that we were not getting back together, we both dated.  She eventually met someone and moved out, we were renting so i stayed on in the house, with the kids, it worked out perfectly for me.  Granted my case is probably as close to perfect as you can get, but it's all about being honest and open....it's gonna really suck for a couple months, then slowly things will start to look better and you'll look back and be amazed at how far you've come in a very short time.  Also in my case, beer helped in the short-term, as an escape, but I don't recommend going down that slippery slope

 

7 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

This is what I hope happens and the way it stays.  

I'm giving her all the furniture because I make a lot more than what she makes.  I don't want her to struggle because she is the mother of my child.  Our son comes first, if we don't get a long and constantly have tension, he's affected.  We don't want that.  

 

We're still in the same house now and will be for the next at least 30 days...so far so good.  She actually went with me to look at an apartment.

We have agreed to keep him in the same school district.  We're going to live close to each other.  Still have dinner with all of us maybe once a week or every other week.

We don't hate each other, we just aren't good together.

 

I'm talking to a few lawyers later today to make sure I'm protected.  

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Just now, joesixpack said:

 

Did you say you already filed papers? Did you file a support agreement? How about a separation of property?

 

We sent the drafts, nothing is signed off yet.  I spoke to her Attorney yesterday and she said that once everything is finalized in the agreement, then we sign off.

She did state that if I want the piece of mind that I am protected, have another Attorney review everything on my behalf.

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6 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

We sent the drafts, nothing is signed off yet.  I spoke to her Attorney yesterday and she said that once everything is finalized in the agreement, then we sign off.

She did state that if I want the piece of mind that I am protected, have another Attorney review everything on my behalf.

 

GOOD.

 

I would put that attorney on retainer and have him/her craft up documents that will protect you first. Here's why I say that. If you're crippled financially by the alimony/support, you'll have a really hard time doing the things you'd love to with your kids otherwise. (Edit: and kids being kids, they'll want to do things with you that invariably cost money.) I'm not saying a guy shouldn't pay those kinds of things. But it should be equitable, and if you're not protected from future changes, it can become really inequitable really quick.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

So my wife and I have officially filed for divorce.  Just waiting for my lawyer and her lawyer to review the paper work to sign off.

 

We're being very amicable towards each other.  Nothing contested (so far) on our end.  We still do get a long, we're in the process of selling our house and living in our existing house together for the next month or so.  We're splitting everything 50/50 except 401K...she's not going to take any of mine.  Instead of child support, I'll pay her health insurance since she can't be on mine now.  I'm also giving her a good chunk of my savings.  We're both being very good to each other right now.

 

I didn't want to be in the relationship anymore but at the same time, it's still pretty hard because I've been with her for 6 years....and we have a 3 year old.

We tried to explain to him last night what was happening and he wasn't getting it.  We just said that we aren't going to live much longer in this house and we will now have two houses.  He seemed excited.

 

If anyone has been through this, any advice?  What should I expect?

Damn man.....sorry to hear this. Hopefully everything works out amicably. 

 

Also, once you get your bearings five daily updates on what it's like to be single in this day and age, so I can live vicariously through you.

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26 minutes ago, The Poojer said:

my kids were 16, 15 and 9 when my ex and i split, very amicably, but very much out of love.  We made it a point to put the kids first and we stuck to it.  Granted we didn't have a pot to piss in, so there really was nothing of value to negotiate, but even if there was, i probably would have acquiesced and let her have anything of substance....it's just stuff and money, you can always get more, eventually.  We couldn't have had a better experience of a divorce, no lawyers no fighting, downloaded some forms from the internet, found a notary, we both signed, 30 days later we got a letter of congratulations from the Commonwealth of Virginia.  All throughout and even still, the kids came first.  They saw the strain in our marriage, we wanted to put all of that behind us.  I think they were the winners in it all because we are all happier on the other side.  Best of luck and if you need a shoulder or an ear, reach out.  

This!  My Brother did it this way.

 

Are you sure You weren't  still "very much in love" and just didn't realize it or Your love became lost and didn't know how to find it again?  It seemed like You saw eye to eye?

 

I am being very sincere and honest here... Not being a wiseguy, please don't be offended... If I did, I am sorry.

 

Royale...  I am so sorry.  Have You tried to work through the differences?  I know You are probably getting this response a lot, but figure I would ask.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

So my wife and I have officially filed for divorce.  Just waiting for my lawyer and her lawyer to review the paper work to sign off.

 

We're being very amicable towards each other.  Nothing contested (so far) on our end.  We still do get a long, we're in the process of selling our house and living in our existing house together for the next month or so.  We're splitting everything 50/50 except 401K...she's not going to take any of mine.  Instead of child support, I'll pay her health insurance since she can't be on mine now.  I'm also giving her a good chunk of my savings.  We're both being very good to each other right now.

 

I didn't want to be in the relationship anymore but at the same time, it's still pretty hard because I've been with her for 6 years....and we have a 3 year old.

We tried to explain to him last night what was happening and he wasn't getting it.  We just said that we aren't going to live much longer in this house and we will now have two houses.  He seemed excited.

 

If anyone has been through this, any advice?  What should I expect?

What state do you live in bud?

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we fell out of "romantic" love, i still very much love her as a person, as she gave me 3 awesome kids

 

1 minute ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

This!  My Brother did it this way.

 

Are you sure You weren't  still "very much in love" and just didn't realize it or Your love became lost and didn't know how to find it again?  It seemed like You saw eye to eye?

 

I am being very sincere and honest here... Not being a wiseguy, please don't be offended... If I did, I am sorry.

 

Royale...  I am so sorry.  Have You tried to work through the differences?  I know You are probably getting this response a lot, but figure I would ask.

 

 

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Just now, RaoulDuke79 said:

Also, with the who push for "equality" for women and such, when are these bull **** divorce settlements going to change, where the husband gets screwed over time and time again and has to give up half of everything he's worked for.

 

Well, to answer that question...it's not really about "equality." Never has been. It's about supremacy.

 

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Just now, RaoulDuke79 said:

Also, with the who push for "equality" for women and such, when are these bull **** divorce settlements going to change, where the husband gets screwed over time and time again and has to give up half of everything he's worked for.

 

They've been pushing for something other than equality for a long time now, brother.

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