Update on atty-- need advice
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| Sat, 08-18-2007 - 10:45pm |
I've been to 2 other attorneys (they are working together) regarding my malpractice case against my divorce lawyer.
First off, the divorce lawyer has malpractice insurance, and it is my understanding from the new attorney, that I may be compesated for any damages I've suffered because of the divorce lawyer.
This would include the 50K line of credit she missed that actually should have gone to my X-- plus the nearly 4K I've put into it over the last year, and some of that $$$ my X took out of my cash settlement; the rental car expenses (when X took the plates off the car )-- nearly 3K; the cost of the new attorneys; the $1,200 cell phone bill that my X ran up on my account, and the lawyer said I'd be compensated for and never was...
Anyway, I'm supposed to come up with a number of what I feel would have been a fair settlement... this is what my settlement was:
X got the 3 businesses & the property that it is located on. The property is worth $340.5K, and the businesses are increasing in value and sales each year.
There is NO debt on the property (I discovered this after the divorce was final-- ONE of the things she screwed up).
X is supposed to get our family car when I get a new one. Originally, I told my lawyer that I wanted the car... she told me it was in my best interest to let X have it. Despite that fact that he is a mechanic, owns an auto salvage yard, and had 5 cars at the time (he still has plenty of cars).
I got: The marital home, valued at $281.3K. I also got the mortgage on the house-- $65K; and the line of credit that was taken out on the house-- $50K. This June, I discovered that the line of credit was in fact spent on the construction of X's storage business. None of it was spent on the house. The divorce atty told me that this was spent on the house (per a conversation with X's atty-- she never got written proof).
My "share" (or whatever) of the 3 businesses was $15K... X paid the mortgage for 6 months out of this amount (also the line of credit), car registration (for the car he repo'd from me!), and I ended up with $6,400.
Custody of DS.
I had to spend nearly $30K fixing the house to get it ready to put on the market, but since I did that AFTER I split with X, it doesn't count.
The actual numbers are: X received $455.5K of the marital assets. I received $166.3K of the marital assets. I *should* have gotten $87.1K more...?
So... she lost $87.1K just in the marital assets... plus the rental car, the cell bill, the atty's fees. Oh, plus HER fees.
Anyway, how do I go about this... do I ask that the $50K line of credit,, the rental cost, and the car be my share? Or should I start with the marital assets, and split them down the middle--
$621,800.00 divided by 2 is $310,900.00 (value of the real estate)
$115,000.00 divided by 2 is $57,500.00 (value of the marital debt)
An equitable division according to these numbers would be $253,400.00
Any help with these numbers would be HUGELY appreciated! I don't want to be greedy; I just want what should have been a fair settlement.
Edited 8/19/2007 9:43 am ET by susieyippin
Edited 8/19/2007 9:44 am ET by susieyippin
Edited 8/19/2007 9:47 am ET by susieyippin

Susie,
Take your paperwork and your numbers to a competent accountant. Someone who knows about tax laws and can be objective about your choices. Don't do this by guess and by golly. Even if you have to pay this person for a couple hours of their time, it will be worth it.
Good luck,
CL-Wisdomtooth2020
You are NOT being greedy at all, you got screwed in your original divorce agreement. I agree with wisdomtooth, have a professional (perhaps the attorneys working on your new case?) help you come up with an accurate dollar amount. As my attorney from my divorce case said to me, try to get whatever you think is fairly yours, the numbers can always be changed, but it's a lot harder (nearly impossible) to add to it once you start than to take away. Hang in there!
Melanie
I have to agree. Talk to an accountant, or perhaps your new attorney and let them help you work out the numbers. Then go after the highest amount you feel you can justify. Besides, your time and trouble seeking out all this new information has also got to be worth something. I say go for broke. Heck with being fair, it's time to be greedy. Also keep in mind that just because you ask for a higher amount that doesn't mean your going to get it.
Good luck, and keep up posted on how this is all working out for you.
Thanks to all of you who replied to my original post. :-) I appreciate all your input.
My mom and I sat down tonight to prepare for tomorrow's meeting with the lawyer. We came up with a new working number. So far, we've been able to figure that my divorce lawyer cost me about $95,000-- that is the inequity of the settlement alone. With the additional costs it may be somewhere around $102,000.... it may go higher depending on what can be added in.. That doesn't include punitive damages, OR her fee.