Chapter 3: Court, Wife and Money

About two months later, my lawyer called me on Monday to remind me that we had an appointment with a Court Clerk on Tuesday. Since the divorce was uncontested and we had already agreed on a property settlement, the court clerk would interview us and make his recommendations to the judge.

Tuesday came, I met my lawyer in front of the Court Annex Building, and we proceeded to the Clerk's Office. We spent the next three hours explaining why I was getting a divorce and what my financial status was. Two items that stuck out in my mind about the financial part of it was the fact that the Clerk was surprised that I would accept the credit card charges and that I did not want any of the other property back. The other item was when the Clerk asked if I was going to receive some inheritances. I started to explain about my Uncle Sam when my lawyer stepped in and gave the clerk the complete background. Including the fact my Uncle Sam did not like my wife so had my share of the estate put in trust for me until I was thirty-five years old or divorced which ever event occurred first.

We left the Clerk's Office with a court date next month on a Thursday afternoon. I asked my lawyer about my Uncle's will and he said "I was instructed to tell you that you had inherited some money from Uncle Sam but it was in trust for you until you were thirty-five. Your Uncle Sam did not like your wife and felt that she was a gold digger so had set up the trust which would be released to you one of two ways when you reached age 35 or when you got a divorce."

I asked, "How much money was involved?"

He said, "There was almost three million dollars five years ago but it had been doing quite well over the last 5 years. The earnings have been 15 to 20% each year so the balance will be between 6 and 7 million dollars.

I was very stunned; I knew Uncle Sam had left me something that I would inherit when I was 35 but nowhere near this amount. I asked the lawyer what happens if my wife decides to try for some of this money. He said a couple items would happen; first off she had no claim against the money because the money was in trust and not part of my estate now or in the past. Two; according to our agreement we have he could to go after my wife and it would hurt her far worse than she could ever dream.

That evening, I saw April and Robin and told them how my day with Court Clerk. went. Both were happy that it did not look like I was going to have a problem getting a divorce. April still felt I should fight for more until I explained I could fight for more but then it would take much longer to get a divorce. I never told them about my inheritance and I was not sure if I was right or wrong to withhold the information.

Wednesday, did not go as I expected at all. First, my boss called me into his office and offered me a promotion in a city 40 minutes from the coast. This promotion would mean that I was in charge of the IT group for that office.

When I got home, before I could tell April and Robin, about my promotion, April told me that her company was being bought out and she had a job offer on another position in the same city my job offer was in. We decided we would accept our new positions.

We spent the weekends looking for a house for me. April and Robin moved back to their farm two weeks later. I met Matt, their bother, when he helped us move them back. April seemed to enjoy his company but the relationship between Robin and Matt still seemed strained a bit. Personally, I found Matt to be a nice person who seemed to care about his two sisters.

Two weeks later, on Thursday afternoon, I met my lawyer in front of the courthouse. We entered the assigned courtroom a couple minutes early and took up our position on the left side of the room. Sitting at the other table were my wife and her attorney. The clerk asked us to stand while the judge entered the courtroom.

The Judge stated by asking if both parties were present and received a positive answered. Next, He asked if we had reached an agreement and was it the one in front of him. My wife's lawyer said that they had uncovered the fact I had been hiding an inheritance and my wife wanted half of it.

The judge and I looked at my attorney and he was actually smiling. He said that beings my wife did not want to follow the settlement as outlined! He would like to introduce evidence pertaining to the divorce and the inheritance if the Judge would allow him to start with the evidence he would greatly appreciate it since it would show why the trust was set up the way it was.

The Judge indicated he should continue. First he pulled a folder out of his briefcase and said this is the report of an investigation Sam had made considering my client's wife prior to their being married but while they were engaged. Of course, the other attorney tried to stop it from being part of the court records. Then my attorney pulled a bigger file out of his briefcase and said that this is a report generated by a local detective agency. It will show that my client's wife has been having an affair with her attorney for more than a year before we separated and has been living with him since the separation. This time the other attorney was strangely quiet.