to get a break on this.
Alimony was out. She didn’t need alimony—her income was substantial and she wasn’t supporting her kids. Her income was nearly as good as his and not only were the boys still living on his income rather than hers, he was paying their tuition. She wanted half of his substantial retirement funds, but those were off the table. They had agreed early on to stick to the standard no-fault parameters. That put her retirement off the table also, but the difference was, Pam had socked away a little, paid cash for her fancy car and since she had a 401K retirement fund, she’d built a tidy little investment portfolio. She’d been taking vacations, partying, buying clothes, living it up. Beau had been investing in the boys and saving for the future. By the time Pam had left him twice, he increased his retirement fund and put away a substantial amount for college educations, money he had wisely put in the kids’ names, keeping it safe.
Once Pam saw the totals on the college funds, she wanted half of that as well. She loudly protested her assets were being added to the mix; he was allowed half of that. By the look on his face, that soured the mediator. Pam lost ground when he realized she would take from the boys.
It took three hours to go through the financial reports, then they each met with their lawyers. Pam and her lawyer went out to lunch, Beau and his very astute and grandmotherly attorney ate in her boardroom while figuring.
“It’s my opinion, you’re coming out in good shape. Given the value of your home, possessions, business and investments, if you accept this settlement, she is due about 27 percent of your house value and 34 percent of your business value. We can negotiate that you’ll pay her a fixed amount based on current appraised value, but not due until you sell the house or in ten years. But you’re not going to be so lucky with the business. To keep it clean, you have to buy her out or she can put a lien on it. Trust me, you don’t want that.”
“Do we have a number?” he asked fearfully.
She turned around a page and ran a red circle around a figure. $1.3 million.
“My business is worth three times that?” he exclaimed.
“More. Much more. Your net worth is very respectable. Impressive. We’re not negotiating based on your net worth but income accrued during the marriage. Thank God you lived with her for a while. We were able to depreciate a lot of your office equipment, office space, salaries and benefits, et cetera. You have a very successful operation, Beau.”
He started to laugh. “Don’t tell anyone but I could work from home if I had to. I’d be damn busy, doing all my own paperwork, but that’s how I started.”
“Believe me, I won’t tell. But your business assets are all tied up,” she said. “You’d better arrange to clear that debt right away.”
“Yeah, but I can get that much,” he said. “I have a house to live in. When I bought it, it was falling down. I spent a lot of money and did almost all the work myself. It’s paid for. It was already fixed up when Pam moved in.” He laughed. He ran a hand through his hair. “Damn.”
“I have a question,” Sonja said. “What kind of man has every receipt for every nail he ever bought?”
“A businessman,” he replied, and laughed. “Plus, the bank is there to help. They can get bank statements from years ago. I love computers. Don’t you?”
She made a face. “Not particularly.”
“All I want right now is for Pamela to let me go.”
“I can’t vouch for her leaving you alone but you’ll be free of the marriage. You both agreed to final mediation and I think the mediator did a very good job. This settlement is fair. No one is suffering unduly. Your wife should get along just fine and the boys will be able to finish their educations.”
“Ex-wife,” he said. “Can she take me back to court?” he asked.
“Listen, anyone can sue anyone for anything. Winning is another story. And bringing a frivolous suit to court is risky business. It wears badly on an attorney.”
“Where is Pamela now?” he asked.
Sonja gathered up papers and put them in a large envelope. “I imagine she’s having her lips sutured shut by her attorney. I’ll have this packet copied for you. Do you have a safe?”
He