15 years ago, my husbands wife filed for divorce. She had multiple affairs, drank and was 49 years old. She was 3 credits away from her degree at USF but had an affair with her mentor and he ditched her so she quit school.
My dear husband is a "rich country doctor" which is a total oxymoron. The judge recused himself from the case because he knew all the names on the witness list.
The case went before the "HONORABLE" XXXX XXXX in XXXX. He awarded her with a beach house, 300,000.00, 2/3rds of my husbands retirement 750,000.00 commercial land worth hundreds of thousands. and more plus 5000.00 per month lifetime alimony to cease only when she remarries"not" and when Richard or she dies. During the divorce she was told to stay away from the family home, she went in, took the antiques, the grand piano ect. The court fined her 100.00 and did not make her give anything back.
She had been living with XXXX during the divorce and after. 8 years ago we took the case back to court for downward modification.
We proved that she was commingling funds by finding XXXX retirement checks in her past checks, she was also supporting XXXX adult daughter who was well able to support herself. The judge ordered a downward modification of 1000.00 per month. She appealed.
We took it to the 5th Judicial Court of appeals. They told us that: she can use her monies for alcohol, children, other men because it is her alimony and she can use it any way she wishes. We had to return 12,000.00 that we had pulled out of her monthly alimony, pay all attorneys fees, 55,000.00. and suck it up. Nowhere in the appeals did they include me in the amount of monies he made the courts didn't look at the fact that there was another person in the mix, the made all assets his and none of them mine after 8 years, now 14 years of marriage. They should have cut half of his earnings out because of me.
My husband is 62 years old, doesn't know what the Hell he's going to do because he can't retire and pay alimony. She is eligible to get Social Security in 3 years to the tune of about 2,000.00 per month. She has invested wisely and at last search, she had made money grow to approx 1.5 million. In court she called it her nest egg, not her retirement. She just sold her Ocean Front Home for 750,000.00 and paid nothing for it. The lady is loaded. She got rid of the man and they are friends now.
It gets worse: XXXX XXXX is now on the 5th Judicial Circuit Court, Appellate Division. If we have to take it to appeals, he would have to overturn his own decision, which isn't likely to happen. We have paid 3/4 of a million dollars in alimony to date.
He could have retired. Not to mention the legal fees involved in all of it, and the money it will cost to take her back to court.
I have no problem at all with a 50/50 division of funds and assets, I think the wife or husband should get half. But ALIMONY ON TOP OF A LARGE ALMOST 2 MILLION SETTLEMENT. SHE COULD HAVE LIVED ON THE INVESTMENTS ALONE. NOW SHE SPENDS 8,000.00 A MONTH WITH HER NEST EGG/RETIREMENT AND 5000.00 A MONTH IN MY AND MY HUSBANDS SWEAT EQUITY.
I have had it, I watch my husband work very hard, Do surgeries on emergencies in the middle of the night and she can lay on the couch all day and watch television.
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