Chapter 14 - THE HOUSE MONEY
The forensic accounting of our marriage took eight months.
No instant answer.
The house improvements:
Total documented:
$1.14 million.
Dad’s property company paid:
$792,000.
Joint marital funds:
$228,000.
Duncan’s separate premarital funds:
$120,000.
Did Duncan get an ownership stake in the house?
No.
Could he seek reimbursement?
Yes.
The divorce court awarded credit for verified separate contribution plus his marital share of eligible joint contributions, adjusted for household benefit received.
Not $900,000.
Not zero.
Vehicles:
No ownership.
No award.
Joint savings:
Split according to state law and settlement.
My design firm:
Independent valuation.
Premarital baseline excluded.
Marital appreciation partly included.
Duncan received an equalization amount.
His development company:
Value had fallen sharply but remained positive.
The marital portion of his interest counted.
His false invoice transfers:
Charged against his share.
Apartment payments for affair:
Some treated as dissipation of marital assets.
He owed adjustment.
Private legal fees for development company paid from joint money:
Adjusted.
Deferred compensation:
A portion earned during marriage entered marital estate under a formula.
Not the whole corporate pool.
At settlement conference, numbers narrowed.
Duncan would leave with several million dollars in lawful marital property and business value.
Not poor.
Not owner of my house.
He stared at the spreadsheet.
“I could’ve had more.”
His lawyer looked at him like she wanted to leave.
I said:
“You could’ve had a marriage.”
Silence.
That was the only theatrical line I allowed myself.
Then we went back to numbers.
May you like
The divorce did not need poetry.
It needed signatures.
