Horror Stories to Avoid

The names and some basic facts have been changed to protect the identify of the parties.

Michael

Michael came to us with a list of how he and his wife were going to divide their assets. They had no children and nearly every financial aspect of their lives was identical. They earned similar incomes, had similar amounts saved for retirement, etc. They owned a duplex and they had agreed that Michael would pay his wife $25,000 for her share of the equity and move on.

After we filed for divorce, her attorney sent us a long set of interrogatories, which are a long, detailed list of questions regarding assets. We called the attorney and explained that the parties had an agreement. He stated that there would not be an agreement until he had a full grasp on the assets. So after our client answered the interrogatories, the other attorney served a number of subpoenas on our client’s employer and the parties’ financial institutions, even though we had already provided him with current statements. In the meantime, the very amicable relationship of the parties had fallen apart. The wife had moved into the lower flat and by the end of the case, they were each breaking into each other’s flats, taking and hiding personal property and there were Personal Protection Orders against both of them. Finally, we get to mediation. After 5 hours of mediation, the wife accepted $24,000 to settle the case.

I would estimate that the wife spent approximately $10,000 on her attorney fees. Therefore, she cost herself nearly $11,000 by choosing the wrong attorney.

Deborah

Deborah was a stay at home mother. Her husband worked in an auto plant and had a number of domestic violence convictions and so many drunk-driving convictions that he no longer possessed a drivers’ license. Notwithstanding the long odds, the husband insisted on contesting custody of the children and his attorney did not explain that it was unlikely that he would be awarded custody. After completing discovery regarding custody issues, the parties appeared at the Friend of the Court (FOC) for an investigation. During the investigation, the FOC counselor told the husband that if he did not agree to his wife having custody, she was going to recommend that he have supervised parenting time. Later in the day, the husband’s attorney called and explained how the FOC counselor did a good job explaining that his client was not going to win on the issue of custody and that he was going to give up his custody fight.

His attorney then withdrew from the case because the retainer fee had been depleted. We later learned that the husband had taken a $5,000 loan from his 401K to pay the retainer fee, causing both parties to receive less in the property settlement.

Beverly

Beverly and her husband had limited incomes. The primary marital asset was Beverly’s doll collection. Beverly’s husband did not hire an appraiser, but had another collector look at the collection and give him a ballpark value. The collector did not open any of the boxes to check the condition of any of the dolls and gave the husband a value based on the assumption that all of the dolls were in very good condition. The wife believed that the collector valued the collection approximately 50% too high. Beverly’s husband was very spiteful and during mediation, he insisted that he keep Beverly’s doll collection and was willing to pay Beverly the amount the collector had valued the collection. In trade, he agreed to give Beverly nearly all of the parties’ retirement accounts, even though he did not have a retirement plan through his employer.

Beverly had proposed selling the collection, dividing the proceeds and dividing the retirement accounts equally, which would have given the husband some retirement savings and some cash in his pocket, but he wanted to get revenge for the wife filing for divorce and his attorney failed to explain the implications of his decision.

Therefore, the husband ended up with less money from the doll collection and little retirement savings, simply because his attorney failed to advise him of the implications of the husband’s desire to seek revenge against his wife by keeping her doll collection.

At Pitler Family Law, our Michigan divorce attorneys handle family law, divorce, child custody, parenting time, visitation, child support and alimony matters throughout the Detroit metropolitan area, including Farmington Hills, Livonia, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Rochester, Mt. Clemens, Dearborn, Warren, Southfield, and all of Oakland County, Wayne County, Livingston County, and Macomb County.