Chapter 22 - The financial closing
Ryan refinanced the house.
Appraisal came in slightly lower:
$830,000.
Still enough.
New mortgage:
$548,000.
Higher interest rate.
His choice.
Settlement equalization funded:
$177,000 from refinance proceeds after debt/costs.
$60,000 brokerage allocation.
$35,000 Summit Ridge distribution approved under company covenant.
$30,000 from Ryan’s separate investment sale.
Total:
$302,000.
No secret suitcase of cash.
Then retirement.
Qualified transfer adjusted marital portions.
I kept mine after offset.
Ryan kept his.
No spousal support.
No claim against his future Summit Ridge distributions beyond settlement.
Did I give up future upside?
Yes.
In exchange, I received certainty now.
Could Summit Ridge become worth millions?
Possible.
Could it fail?
Possible.
Settlement means risk allocation.
Then house deed.
I transferred my interest after funds cleared and refinance closed.
Ryan owned house.
Noah would spend some parenting time there.
I had mixed feelings.
Then my housing.
I rented a three-bedroom townhouse near Claire.
Why not buy immediately?
I wanted six months.
No rush.
Nursery.
Office.
Guest room.
Then legal fees.
Mine:
About $62,000.
Ryan’s likely similar or more.
No reimbursement.
Painful.
Not ruinous.
Then Joanna said:
“Property is done.”
I stared.
“Done?”
“Yes.”
“What about business?”
“Resolved.”
“House?”
“Resolved.”
“Tax reserve?”
“Accounted.”
“Parents’ loan?”
“Not treated as debt.”
The money Ryan tried to connect to custody had finally been separated completely.
Noah’s schedule could change without changing a dollar of property settlement.
Exactly what should have happened from the beginning.
Then Summit Ridge.
The late $310,000 receivable was paid in two installments.
Company line balance dropped.
Employees fine.
No bankruptcy.
Ryan’s fear that divorce would destroy twenty-one jobs had been exaggerated.
Still, valuation/equalization had been difficult.
The business survived because law did not require physically splitting it.
Then Claire asked:
“Did you get half?”
“No.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“What did you get?”
“A settlement.”
She frowned.
“That sounds boring.”
“It was expensive enough.”
Then Ryan’s parents.
They were angry the $110,000 gift was not treated as debt.
They did not sue.
Their tax records made position weak.
They asked Ryan privately to repay someday.
His problem.
No claim against me.
Then one final financial document.
Ryan signed acknowledgment:
Parenting time and custody terms are not consideration for property settlement.
Important.
We both signed.
May you like
The paper could not erase his earlier plan.
It ensured the final deal did not repeat it.
