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Jane is in her late fifties. She’s been a stay-at-home mom forever, with no marketable skills or recent education. Her son is in his late teens.

Jane and her husband had been together for 20 years when the marriage fell apart. They had five children together, and he had two other children from a prior marriage.

At about 38 years old, Jane’s soon-to-be-ex was ten years older than she was. As a prestigious medical professional, he also earned a lot. So, during the course of their marriage, things simply “got paid.”

Greed can be corrupting. In this story, the greedy one wasn’t Jane. It wasn’t her former husband. It wasn’t her attorney. It was an insidious third party. Jane and her husband divorced after a 23-year marriage.

When we met Jane, she had already been divorced for several years. She became a tax client of ours. And we, unfortunately, were there when something hit Jane that had flown, stealthily, under her lawyer’s radar.

There’s a side to our Jane Doe stories that you don’t see—and that’s a good thing. It amounts to “all of the financial challenges we help to take off of Jane’s plate... and thus yours.”

Jane and her husband had been married for nearly 25 years when they decided to part ways. The kids were grown. Jane didn’t have a career to speak of: She just worked a part-time retail job.

In most of our Jane Doe stories, we’re able to help out Jane—and her attorney. Sadly, that’s not the case here. It’s not because we were unable. It’s simply because we were never called in.

Jane and her husband had been married for 18 years, and Jane still loved the man. But he was now severely incapacitated, due to a brain injury. He was unable to work, unable to make sound decisions, and living off Social Security disability income.