Chapter 13 - What Hargrove Project Services was worth
The divorce financial neutral revised HPS valuation after company settlement.
Before liabilities:
Value approximately $186,000.
Mercer note:
$120,000 principal plus interest.
Settlement obligation:
$15,620 after offset.
Other debts:
$28,000.
Net equity:
Low.
Approximately:
$35,000 to $55,000 depending collections.
That surprised me.
Lucas had risked our marriage partly to protect a company worth less than our retirement accounts.
Dana said:
“Value and identity are different.”
Lucas had built HPS himself.
It mattered to him.
Then our house.
Sale appraisal:
$648,000.
Mortgage:
$296,000.
HELOC:
$26,000.
Approximate gross equity:
$326,000 before costs.
But remember:
HELOC had been reduced by $70,000 using HPS loan.
Because HPS was marital property?
Created during marriage.
Yes.
Its debt and value were marital components subject classification.
The neutral accountant avoided double counting by valuing:
House with current debt.
HPS with current Mercer liability.
Then global marital balance sheet.
Good.
No simple:
Lucas owes Emily $35k because house benefited.
The numbers interacted.
Then the “Hargrove family loan” $48,000.
Lucas’s mother produced bank transfer.
Memo:
For kitchen and roof. Love Mom
No promissory note.
No interest.
No repayments.
Her tax preparer had treated it as a gift.
Lucas withdrew debt claim.
Then retirement.
We would equalize.
Then company loss of salary.
Lucas had been making $162,000 plus bonus at Mercer.
HPS income variable.
After termination, he took a job three months later as controller at Keystone Industrial Interiors.
Salary:
$139,000.
Bonus target:
10%.
Less money.
Still employed.
No ruin.
Child support calculations updated based on current income.
Then Lucas accused Mercer of lowering his income to increase child support?
Nonsense.
His own violation caused termination.
Still, family court used actual good-faith income, not punitive imputation automatically.
Then my income.
I worked in marketing analytics.
Salary:
$96,000.
Could support myself.
No spousal support likely long-term.
Then Noah.
Parenting time had gradually become close to:
60% me.
40% Lucas.
No incidents.
He liked both homes.
He hated the app.
“Why do you guys text each other like robots?”
Because court.
I did not say that.
“Because it helps us remember schedules.”
He rolled his eyes.
May you like
Eight.
Normal.
