TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN!

If I were to look back at the early days of my divorce, the one mistake I made was listening to my attorney when he said to be restrained about taking money from the joint accounts I held with my ex.

My attorney said only take 50% of what is in there. Well, let me tell you, my ex was never so restrained. He took it all! And he was never held accountable for doing so. What I regret now is that I didn't grab the money when I had the opportunity.

Another strategy I should have considered was during the entirety of my marriage and certainly in the months leading up the divorce when I began to realize that something was going wrong, I should have regularly taken twenty dollars here, twenty dollars there, and placed it in a hidden location, simply as a "just in case".

And by hidden, I mean hidden. That means don't use any bank account that you may have to report later in your financial affidavit. For example, one that bears interest which has to be reported on your taxes, or any kind of account that your ex could stumble across if he had a supoena to the bank and requested all acounts under your social security number.

Many divorces in Connecticut take over a year to litigate. Frequently, if you are a woman the court will provide you with very little if any support and there is nothing you can do about it. In that case, having a little nest egg to tide you over can make the difference between holding on until you get the financial agreement you want or utter desperation which leads you to sign a bad agreement just so you can get access to any money at all to survive and feed yourself and your children.

Don't be stupid. Think ahead. Take the money and run!