In our marriage there were times when I thought I had insulated myself against future damage from Bill's gambling or 'creative' spending-----usually running up charges on my credit cards. Each time he would blindside me with a newer and more clever approach to his antics. I could never anticipate how he was going to surprise me when the next shoe dropped. I never ceased to be startled.
Getting divorced was a way I thought I would be able to protect myself from being shocked with another show of amoral behavior. I think of it as a form of damage control. (i.e., we'll get divorced and there will be a final dollar amount and that will be it. I'll be done with his financial surprises for life.) NOT SO!!! The tried and true Thatcher Sucker Punch from the Grave was looming. Ahhhhhh....what I have discovered is, once again, something I never would have thought up myself. But it's brilliant.
I knew that Bill had written a new last will and testament sometime during the summer. It has just come to my attention that Bill not only wrote a will but completely cut Laura out. That's right ---- nothing for his only child. Because she was angry with him and didn't want to meet with him and his 'people' this summer. His 'people' it turns out, were his friend, David, and David's friend, Dan. David works for the DA's office. His employment contract states unequivocably that he cannot practice law or even give legal advice if it's not district attorney business. I believe he has been giving Bill legal advice. However, he could not write a will. Not even if the will was going to be tucked away in some folder waiting for death. That's where Dan comes in. Dan has, through the years, traveled through many jobs and finally went to law school. He passed the Bar and now makes a bundle as an attorney somewhere impressive. Dan wrote the will. David is Bill's heir. If David is deceased when Bill passes, then Dan will be Bill's heir. If Dan and David are both gone before Bill, then David's daughter gets everything.
There are several reasons why this is wrong and disgusting. For starters, and most importantly, Laura is completely left out. I have discovered that this is an old Thatcher family tradition: they cut close family members out of their wills as a final sucker punch from the grave. When Laura found out about this, she asked that I not be told. She didn't want me to worry about it. She wanted to take care of this herself. How sad did she feel when she learned this? I don't know. She understands her dad and his disease pretty well. Can she get him to change it? I don't know.
Apparently, he said if it weren't for David he would be dead. David gave him money when I wouldn't. David bailed him out. Bill's lucky to have David. If Bill were naming David as his heir when he has terminal cancer, David could look forward to inheriting-----what? So here's where it gets dicey for me: If Bill were to die and the divorce wasn't final and Laura were his heir, then Laura would just tell me to forget about the final property settlement and the dispersing of funds. If Bill dies and the divorce isn't final and David is his heir, David would force me to finalize the property settlement and give all to which Bill would have been entitled to him. If I try to ignore or stonewall him, he and Dan will make motion after motion in courts until I cough up the money. It's brilliant. Dan will help David for free; they've been friends for 35 years. They can literally bury me in legal work and, consequently, legal fees. If Bill dies and the divorce has been finalized and Laura is his heir, then all the belongings, cars, etc., would revert back to her (I realllllyyyy miss that Acura....) If Bill dies and the divorce is final and David is his heir, all the belongings then become David's. (And amongst other things, the Acura would then be David's....) By setting David as his heir, Bill is thus ensuring that I will never recoup anything I give him in this divorce settlement. Notice how I didn't say anything about money after the divorce is final and Bill passes? Right! Because once funds, actual dollars, are transferred from me to Bill, they will vanish in the blink of an eye. Only if he passes before the divorce is final will there be any money involved in the inheritance.
A final sucker punch from the grave, the Quintessential Bill.
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