Does this imply you simply avoided an unfair split of financial assets at the end. Or because you benefitted from a split that was in your favor?
If it was in your favor, would you mind sharing what tactics on your part, or what mistakes on his part, led to this outcome? Just asking cuz I think actual experiences such as this would be worth a zillion times more that the general advise given in the article we're discussing.
If that's too personal, completely understood.
Not any unfair advantage for me, just no financial encumberances or losses on my part.
A little background on me...I managed govt contracts for 18+ years. If it ain't in writing, it doesn't exist.
Basically, I drew up a cost share agreement (using an example from the NOLO book
http://www.nolo.com/products/living-together-LTK.html ) that stated that while he resided in my home, he would pay 50% of all expenses incurred (utilities, food, car insurance for vehicles I owned but he drove, property and school taxes, consumer items, etc). The only exception was anything related to my home, i.e. capital improvements or repairs, which I paid 100% on the advice of my trust attorney.
I kept my financial assets completely separate. No dummy here.
An amusing sidebar...he actually asked me to go halfsies on a car for him. I already owned 3 vehicles, one of which he drove. Once I stopped laughing, the subject quickly died on the vine.
When we split, anything we had bought together was not split, but dealt with in more of a horse trading arrangement. He took all the tools and the full size tool chest, I kept all of the electronics items and metal storage cabinets we purchased together. I paid him back his cost share of a computer desk that I kept.
I am a very fair person. I had receipts of all purchases (my nature to keep records) and did a "back of the envelope" tally up to make sure the value of the horse traded items were on par.
He got a little foolish about a few things, but I used logic and irrefutable proof of purchases to get him to get his planet back in alignment with reality.
His biggest mistake was thinking he would do better on his own. When a man cannot overcome his past, he cannot have a future. Such is life.
