“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness clearly never paid for a divorce.” – Unknown.
As the possibility of divorce looms people start thinking about what they may or may not be able to afford after the divorce and they make some interesting decisions. Here are a few shared stories that are not necessarily financially savvy at the end of the day and might be questionable morally, but have an element of creativity without a doubt:
- “I found out my husband was cheating on me, so I decided to get a boob job on his dime, and I left him six months later.” – Double D in Dallas
- “When a patient comes in with cash and/or starts to pre-pay their account for things like fillers, Botox, facials and other aesthetics they are usually divorce planning.” – A Doctor Astute in Life and Aesthetics
- “When my wife left me, it suddenly dawned on me that she had been buying two of everything the year leading up to our separation. We had two of the same televisions, two of the same couches, two of the same coffee tables and more. Essentially, we had the same room furnishings in the room off our kitchen as our other tv watching room. I probably should have noticed that this was odd, but I guess it made splitting the furnishings easier.” – Should Have Had a Clue in Phoenix
- “My husband and I struggled in our marriage for years. He wanted to move into a bigger, more expensive house, but I knew if we did and got divorced, we would have to sell it, or at least I would have to leave it. I also knew moving was not going to fix our issues so I dragged my feet and started fixing up the house we were living in knowing I would not be able to do some of the big projects for a few years if we did get divorced because it would be tight financially for me to stay in the home. Ultimately, we got divorced, I did keep the house and wished I had done more of the big projects like the roof.” – Protective or Proactive in Portland
- “My ex didn’t really have any friends and our kids were grown and independent so when I was planning on ending our marriage I got him a dog, which turned out to be the one thing he wanted from the house during our negotiations. No furnishings, no artwork…he just didn’t want to lose the dog.” – Puppy Power
These stories might raise a few eyebrows and even elicit some chuckles. There are also many tales of people engaging in truly diabolical, criminal, and unethical divorce planning tactics. Before choosing the dark side, remember that many people get caught, which can result in criminal charges, reimbursements required, or assets awarded to the other party. We encourage you to ask yourself, “is the money worth that risk, the bad karma and the guilty conscience?”
“I’d marry again if I found a man who had $15 million and would sign over half of it to me before the marriage and guarantee he’d be dead in a year.” – Bette Davis
