Special Note to subscribers. I accidentally deleted this posting whenI Â was working on my next piece, so I am posting it again. Ignore if you have already read this. Thanx! ellensue
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute. Rebecca West
From: 1,0003 Great Things About Being a Woman by Lisa Burnbach, Ann Hodgman, & Patricia Marx
Note: This lesson was written after my divorce. However, a little over one week ago (10/15/2009), I was keeping an eye on my grandson while my daughter was away, and in one day, the weather went unexpectedly from Fall to Winter. The pictures between the paragraphs show that mercurial change and prompted me to rename this tip “Unexpected Dayz.â€
Fall in State College (Oct. 13, 2009)
You may have begun to realize that your husband no longer lives by the rules of your marriage. For example, one of my ex’s favorite sayings was “My word is my bond.â€Â During our separation period, we wrote out a property list in the event our separation and subsequent reconciliation did not work. It didn’t. When I went back to his office to retrieve the computer, which was part of this list, the door was purposely locked so I could not take what was mine.
When I questioned him, his reply was, “The paper wasn’t a signed agreement.†I reminded him that he always said his word was his bond, but he ignored that and continued to keep the computer until he went bankrupt. When he finally gave it to me almost two years later, it needed $750 to repair and a new one was only $1,000. So I borrowed money and bought a new one, since I was still freelance writing to supplement my income. The money he promised to give me for repairs was rescinded, since I bought a new one. Figure that one out!
Peak foliage in State College Oct. 13, 2009
The lesson here is to expect the unexpected and also to keep track of every promise or commitment made and broken. If you can afford marital counseling, I suggest you both go, soon. We did, but by then, it was too late, so think about seeking counsel when the problems are small, not big. If you can salvage your marriage because both of you work at keeping it together, great! But if you know divorce is in the air, retain legal counsel as soon as possible. Start an ex-file with names, dates, and places of important incidents to bring to discuss with your lawyer or use in court. My file, which I called The Ex-Files after the popular TV show of that time,  became so fat I had to subdivide it.
A magnificent example of Fall in State College
Do your homework. Find out your rights as a spouse. For example, any items you owned before marriage such as inherited pieces of furniture or jewelry, are yours and not joint property to be divided at the time of the divorce. Also make a duplicate, either by putting everything on your computer hard drive with a back-up disk, or typing or handwriting it and photocopying it. List all the items you want to keep because of their sentimental value or financial value. Give a copy to your lawyer. If his recent behavior suggests your husband won’t be playing fair, put valuable in a bank safe deposit box of your own. Remember, when someone is very angry, behavior can be unexpected, so again, expect the unexpected and be prepared by removing your pre-marital personal valuables into a safe place.
If you have younger children living at home and expect a custody battle, find a therapist to help you evaluate the situation. Your school psychologist should be able to help you as part of his or her job, so no fees will be involved, unless you choose to have private sessions away from school. Don’t be afraid to express your financial concerns, and if necessary, check out Domestic Relations in your county. I used their services when I began having problems with child support for our youngest child still at home. This is no time to be proud for the wrong purpose. You and your children need a clean and safe place to live. If you expect anything amiss when your husband has the children, obtain a court order to investigate your suspicions, since your children are caught between their mother and father and may be afraid to say anything. Keep an ex-file on his visits, such as keeping them well beyond the time they should be home in bed.
“Flaming Foliage” before the storm, Oct. 13, 2009
If you give your husband custody, then make sure your court order delineates the times you and your husband have agreed upon as visit times, including nights during the week, week-ends and holidays. Make sure the children have a decent place to live and sleep and are not neglected. You may want to include in your divorce agreement that neither of you move so far away that visits become difficult and expensive. Staying in the same or contingent state is often a fair solution, since one of you may not want to stay in the same town you now live in once the divorce is final. I moved from Pennsylvania to New York, about four hours east for about three years while the final separation, bankruptcy, and divorce were taking place. Then I moved back to PA and my ex moved to NJ, so visits were still not too difficult.
Fall to Winter photo taken from the bus on my way home from State College, October 15, 2009.
Take nothing for granted in the money and property departments. Again, if you have joint credit cards, dis-joint them. If you have money of your own in a joint savings account, get it out and open up another account in a different bank so your husband doesn’t have access to your money. (Hopefully you have been putting money away as you felt things were amiss.) If somehow you are afraid he can get his hands on your money, ask a trusted friend or relative to put it in their savings until you need it.
The same parking lot at my daughter’s that had “flaming foliage” only the day before!
As I mentioned in a previous tip, I was not smart with the money I had inherited from my father. I gave it to my husband to put into an insurance policy that made me the beneficiary. Unfortunately, the bank took that when my ex went bankrupt. From the money I invested in that policy, it would have rolled over into a type of retirement policy, so that at age 62, each of us would have received $10,000 for the rest of our lives. Instead, at 62, I had to file for early Social Security to pay my rent. My advice is to take out a separate insurance policy or separate IRA if you inherit money. If you do not divorce, then you can share the earnings when the time comes. There is nothing like having your own money to use as you wish.
In short, all the rules and guidelines and promises made while you were married don’t apply during divorce. So start making up your own rules (read: demands) to protect you and your children from being “greased and fleeced.â€Â Some time ago, I saw the biography of Lauren Hutton who admitted that her boyfriend of 20 years managed her money. Despite her frequent questions about her investments, she never pursued the issue, and when he died, she found he had spent $35,000,000 of her earnings. They were gone! If someone as rich and smart as Lauren Hutton can be fleeced, I cannot urge you enough to be cautious. If the women’s movement did nothing else but empower us to stand up for what we have earned as women and wives, it is worth the struggle for maintaining your self-esteem and self-confidence. You were partners in a relationship that is dissolving, and partners have rights, in business as well as marriage. Stand up for your rights!
From Fall to Winter in one day. Picture taken October 15, 2009.
