When I was getting divorced, I remember being very close to having a final financial agreement but my ex was balking on a final point. At the same time, my attorney was telling me she would have to start preparing to go to court if he didn’t sign soon. I really hoped to avoid the expense associated with a court hearing. So when Kathleen Christensen, who was using the collaborative divorce process, told me how she and her ex resolved their final sticking point, I was all ears. Here’s Kathleen:
When we were getting our financial decisions made, we got down to the last $5,000 of equity in the house. For various reasons we weren’t dividing it exactly in half. I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to get close on this last decision and that neither of us would be able to let go.
Then I think it was my ex’s idea to put this last $5,000 in an account for our daughter. It was so practical – it solved the problem. And it seemed so symbolic. The whole reason we were doing this collaborative divorce was for her and this last decision was to give this last piece of money to her. That felt good. I’m actually still amazed.
The Divorce Coach Says
The simplicity of this decision makes it so beautiful. It’s one of those ‘why didn’t I think of that’ decisions. Did you and your ex come up with any novel solutions to dividing your assets? If you’re going through divorce right now, is there an asset you can’t agree how to divide?