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I didn't read the study, but I can assume it's true, and it changes nothing. As pointed out in another comment:
This is just the tip of the divorce-industrial complex iceberg.
@Unsaying mentioned:
I can tell you firsthand that when shopping around for someone to help with a basic, equitable prenup: Family lawyers generally have some combination of either A: Genuine misandry or B: No desire to advocate for a client who's already predisposed to lose.
Sure you can bill the same amount as when you're representing women, but it's a near certainty you'll be left with an unhappy customer. Why bother?
I've worked enough in divorce law to say straightforwardly: this is retarded. The fact that your friend couldn't argue his way out of a wet paper bag is not an indictment of the adversarial legal system. Literally every aspect of that should have gone differently, and routinely does.
The majority of stories like this are the result of one party or another failing completely to argue their case, or walking into court totally unprepared to argue, or blowing off the court and being subject to a default judgment. These things just don't happen if you don't fuck up somewhere.
I've literally heard the same beer-rants of guys who claimed they'd been divorce raped in cases I knew intimately enough to know what he was leaving out.
For reference, here is a common trick where men who "got fucked in the divorce" fumbled the ball.
Wife's Attorney: You have three children, correct?
Husband: Yes.
WA: What are their names?
H: Kaylee, Kayleigh, and KaeLieh
WA: What are their ages?
H: Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I'm serious. This happens all the time.
I am sure there's more to the story and/or my buddy kept walking into proverbial rakes.
To circle back to my original point, he's now on a great upward trajectory 4 years later. Alimony timed out after something like 2 years?
The most baffling part of all of it is that they had no kids. I couldn't see the justification for any of it.
Another victim made the "mistake" of moving out after his wife cheated on him, so she got the house by default.
I'd still maintain that I don't understand how a court can arrive at these judgements, not matter how braindead a man's lawyer is.
Basically you're facing impenetrable just-worlding with a touch of refuge in audacity. There's no way it can be that bad therefore it must not be and the people who got screwed must have brought it on themselves.
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Out of curiosity, what are other common tricks?
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This is nightmare fuel for me.
I've heard you can get "bulletproof" prenups in the "his/hers/ours" vein. But then I hear horror stories about how because of one slip up in where a certain check went, all of a sudden all accounts have equal claim.
Question: Are there any states that don't have in effect common law marriage for long term cohabitation. If I had my druthers, I'd like to be long term monogamous but with ZERO POSSIBLE involvement from the state.
Alternatively, marry a good woman and don’t let your marriage go to crap.
I mean I know that’s easier said than done, but I would be very surprised if divorce for no apparent reason was common at all. Most of the time it’s either 1) you shouldn’t have married her, and it was obvious at the time 2) you shouldn’t have become an addict or 3) shouldn’t have let the marriage fall apart. The frequency of all three varies along the usual clines.
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Seems like Common Law marriage is actually in a minority of states. Even so, someone cohabiting with you and splitting a mortgage will get them a lot of leeway in court to make things messy for you.
I don't think you can eliminate the risk. You need to do a ton of work upfront in picking a partner, then sign a great contract where both folks have legal representation, then still learn to live with a gun to your head.
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