The Post-Nup Solution by Tom Gardiner

Author:Tom Gardiner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2017-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

Identifying Income-Generating Responsibilities and Abilities

In the previous example, Terry wasn’t accepting his financial responsibility to the marriage based on his ability. This is a common problem in marriages, and the Property Pact can help clarify this issue for both spouses, thus removing or diminishing a major source of stress in the marriage.

The pact can also help define responsibilities and abilities that affect maintenance payments after a divorce. Tammy is a doctor who worked in emergency rooms prior to her marriage to Bill, but she has only worked part-time since they had kids. This was fine with Bill, a successful businessman, and they have enjoyed a nice lifestyle despite Tammy’s limited part-time income. As their relationship deteriorated, though, they created a post-nup, and the Property Pact included a clause that Tammy would waive her right to maintenance if they ended up getting divorced. They agreed to include this clause because both of them were aware that Tammy’s experience as an ER doctor and the need for physicians with her expertise would enable her to obtain a good-paying, full-time job if she needed one.

On the other hand, consider Susan and Jeff: Susan hasn’t worked in ten years and, unlike Tammy, has little experience or expertise that would help her land a decent-paying job. Thus, her pact with Jeff calls for her to receive maintenance of $2,000 monthly plus cost of living increases tied to the consumer price index so that she can return to school and finish her degree. Though Jeff earns $60,000 annually when the pact is written, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be making that amount at a point in the future when they might divorce, so the pact builds in a reduction if he’s making less.

Property Pacts can be tweaked a number of different ways. An increasingly common situation involves a husband who is out of work and receiving unemployment while his wife works and supports the family. In a number of instances, the husband fails to pursue career opportunities vigorously (or doesn’t pursue them at all), either because he refuses to settle for a “lesser” career path or because he’s depressed from losing his job. Whatever the reason, the pact specifies that because he’s failed to try to get a job, he will not receive maintenance and his share of the marital assets will be reduced by 15 percent.

Couples can also use the Property Pact to calculate cost-of-living expenses responsibly. For instance, let’s say a husband smokes marijuana daily, and his habit costs the family $1,000 monthly. Though the wife’s income pays for his marijuana, she is convinced smoking is a bad habit that’s detrimental to their family. When they create their Property Pact, they agree to document this $1,000 monthly habit and note that this is not an “approved” living expense. Because of the pact, this amount won’t be figured into their living expenses, ensuring that the wife will probably receive additional maintenance (because living expenses are a key calculation in maintenance determinations).

In the parlance of divorce, the expenditure on marijuana could be viewed as “dissipation”—the wasting of money.

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