Crisis = Opportunity, or: How to slay Achilles
Imagine this divorce case: You’re representing an affluent woman. Her soon-to-be-ex husband has an asset that he’s emotionally attached to. It could be his car collection. His business. Artwork. Jewelry. And he’s made it clear that he won’t let go. It’s an “over-my-dead-body” moment.
Uh-oh. Sticking point. Crisis. What do you do? How do you un-stick this recalcitrant party?
As a CPA, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® professional, I’ve worked my share of cases like these. And what I’ve learned—which you might not realize when these situations arise—is that they’re the classic case of “crisis equals opportunity.” What seems like the husband’s biggest strength is actually his Achilles heel—and your best friend in the negotiations… with my help, of course.
Here’s how it works. If he’s really that enamored with that asset, then this hands you and me the opportunity to devise creative negotiating strategies that really serve your client well.
Think of if this way: What would he be willing to trade off, in order to retain that emotionally-charged asset? Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is a case in which his emotions will get the better of him, and can be used to effectively give the wife more of what she wants.
Case in point: A big house. Let’s say he wants it. I say, Fine! Especially if, say, the woman has been a stay-at-home mom all these years, the kids are growing/grown, and she doesn’t need to hear her voice echoing through the halls of an empty $2 million mansion.
So what the husband wants now can easily translate to what the wife wants in the future. The property division can be slightly tilted for, for example, a more generous spousal-maintenance agreement. Such as payouts over a longer period of time. Or a larger lump-sum payout. Or a bigger share of a future pension benefit.
I recently worked a case where the husband happily (okay, not happily, but you get the idea) agreed to pay my client $10k a month in order to keep his business… when only $500 of that was actual spousal maintenance!
How I can help you: As soon as I discover who’s emotionally attached to what, I’ll calculate what’s equitable in these tricky splits and show my math in charts, reports, or graphs that are easy to understand and hard to argue with (and I haven’t even touched on the tax implications!), giving you the opportunity to really shine during negotiations.
One last point: To blatantly mix metaphors, that emotional-attachment Achilles heel is also a double-edged sword. I can help to coach that woman to keep her emotions in check when it comes to assets that she’s passionate about, so that we don’t hand the opposing party an easy negotiating lever of their own.
Let me help you with these complex cases and the creative strategies they require. Contact me today and let’s get started.
