Buckle Up!

This One's A Bit Of A Waltz

CAUTION!  SINGLE ITEM BLOG TODAY

I took it from the 'r/Lounge' Youtube channel, which itself got it from Reddit, where it got posted in the subreddit "Am I The Bottomhole?".  Unlike the majority of these tales, possibly 98%? it occurs in Canuckistan, as the narrator makes clear.  The narrator, Divorcee RelAting Financial Trouble, or DRAFT hereafter, got divorced from her Venomous EX, hereafter VEX some five years previously in what she called a 'messy' divorce, when she means 'bitterly acriomnious and protracted'.  We never find out why they split, nor how long they were married for.

     ANYWAY Art!

     The Remote Nuclear Tormentor stands ready aye ready to inflict hideous suffering on those not paying attention, not paying taxes or not taking BOOJUM! seriously.

     Where was I?

     O yes.  You can judge who was the bottomhole in the relationship as VEX had 0% custody of their children.  Also, for five years he'd been refusing to take her name off their old joint account, which was supposedly his primary one, where debits for his ATV were made and his pay deposited.  Art!

An ATV

     He refused, and kept on refusing for five years, seemingly without giving a reason, apart perhaps from being a malicious bottomhole?  You see, it needed both of them to be physically present to amend the account details.

     Suddenly, and this seems to be exaggerated for drama, DRAFT got a phone call and text from the bank, saying the joint account was $949.99 overdrawn and needed funding immediately.  Say what?  Conrad rather suspects they'd have given a written warning at least two weeks before the phone follow-up.

     So, once again DRAFT calls VEX and tells him to sort this out.  Once again, he refuses since he's 'busy'.  Quite possible, as the next day he was due to leave on a 3 week trip to Italy.  Art!

Italy.  Just so we're clear

     Since DRAFT was, unusually, in the sinful big city, she went to the branch to check out her options.  There were two: 1) Do nothing OR 2) Pay off the overdraft and close the account.

     You may be wondering here, as I was, how VEX could go on a 3 week trip to Italy when he was nearly $1,000 overdrawn and needed debits taking out for his ATV.  Put a pin in that, we'll come back to it.

     Commenters mentioned that, if she had proof of her requests to take her name off the joint account, she might have legal recourse to claim the money back.  Her verbatim response was "Yes, I have written requests for this through e-mail, text messages, and letters through our lawyers.  And I can prove through statements that I did not access this account."  Also, that he had another account and she should contact her attorney.  Art!

     She also got 2 years of bank statements, which were verrrry bad for VEX as it revealed all sorts of financial information he'd never want his ex to see.  There was evidence of him hiding funds.  He had gotten a $20,000 backdated tax refund 2 years prior, when their son had been diagnosed with ADHD and autism.  DRAFT was entitled to half of that money and hadn't seen a cent of it.

     Several months of legal back and forth ensue as VEX wriggles like a worm on a hook to avoid mediation.  Eventually a meeting is arranged, before which DRAFT's lawyer issues a disclosure notice to get access to VEX's financial records.  Art!

     These proved that VEX's money situation was far, far worse than his ex had ever imagined.   He had run up $100,000 in consumer debt with almost nothing to show for it.  He racked up $700 per month eating out, or $23 every single day, amounting to $8,400 per annum.  His credit card had charges of $10,000 on it.

     As to how he afforded his Italian sojourn?  He'd opened a new account with a different bank well before leaving British America, leaving DRAFT to remedy the overdrawn account.

     Disclosure also showed he was using work - we aren't told what his work is - to hide funds.  Whether this was a tax dodge, or to avoid having to pay his ex, or both, is not explained.

     They also discovered that he was using his business's money to fund his personal legal fees.  THIS IS ILLEGAL!  It's called 'Breach of fiduciary duty'.  There was no follow-up on this item, frustratingly, but VEX's lawyers would be required to report this crime.  To wit:

"Financial Frauds and Crimes: An attorney may also disclose information to prevent, mitigate, or rectify substantial financial or property injury if the client is actively using the lawyer’s services to commit a crime or fraud"

     One can see why he didn't want any mediation!  You, sir, are a cad and a bounder.  Art!

     VEX's lawyer argued that he owed her nothing and that all marital assets had been evenly and fairly split.  DRAFT responded with pictures, valuations, receipts and quotes to prove that their house had not been properly priced, and mentioned 'Constructive trust' and 'Unjust enrichment', which made the opposing counsel sit up sharply.  Does she work in the legal profession? otherwise how would she know these legal terms?  We never get to find out what her job is.

"A constructive trust is not a traditional trust. It is an equitable remedy imposed by a court to prevent unjust enrichment when someone holds property they should not legally or fairly keep."  Art!

      The implication here, I think, is that DRAFT was threatening to get more money out of her ex thanks to him not paying her a fair sum for her share of the marital home.  

      Whilst VEX and his lawyer had a hushed conversation in the corner, DRAFT worked out how much her ex was on the hook for: $45,000 PLUS the $10,000 for the tax refund PLUS child 'Section 7' expenses of $13,000, so $68,000 in total.

     The opposing lawyer came back with sob story details that VEX couldn't get a loan, had been refused consolidation of his depts yet - rather suspicious this - he couldn't declare bankruptcy since he earned too much.  So all he could offer was his ATV, valued at $10,000.

     Eventually this was escalated up to the ATV, delivered in 14 days in good condition, and $5,000 in cash.  Art!

     DRAFT knew this result would disappoint her audience, so she explained.  This mediation meeting was the last chance to settle things before the pre-trial began.  If she had taken VEX to court she would have gotten more money, yet she'd have to shell out for lawyers.  Even if she was awarded the $45,000 she'd never have seen a cent of it, thanks to VEX being a malicious bottomhole.  You can guarantee that he'd drag out the legal process for as long as possible to make it as expensive as possible for his ex.

     Finally, she stated that this was the final chapter in a divorce that had results dragging on for 6 years and she wanted it over and done with.  "My peace of mind is priceless" as she put it.

     That's where the story ends so we never found out if VEX got into legal trouble about his financial shenanigans.  I would have reported him to the Canuckistanian equivalent of the IRS just for good measure.  But then I am evil.