Chapter 16 - The divorce settlement
Property settlement signed four months after the slap.
House proceeds:
$292,000.
After agreed credits:
I received $149,750.
Mark:
$142,250.
Retirement equalized by transfer so total marital retirement value divided roughly equally after tracing small premarital balances.
Savings split.
Vehicles:
I kept SUV with loan.
Mark kept sedan.
No spousal support.
Child support guideline.
Daycare split 55/45.
No reimbursement for the entire hidden childcare period beyond:
Mark repaid the $1,450 FSA reimbursement to employer.
Employer corrected tax documents.
Our marital accounting credited me $3,500 for disputed family-support spending.
No punitive financial destruction.
Then legal fees.
Each paid own.
Painful.
Mine around $31,000.
Mark similar.
Then Diane’s medical card.
Closed permanently from our joint account.
Mark could support her separately.
Done.
Then the nanny.
Megan declined to return.
I understood.
She did not want our family crisis to become her job.
She agreed to provide references for Lily’s normal care history.
No lawsuit.
No damages demand.
Then Harbor? No wrong story. Our daycare was Bright Steps Learning Center.
They enrolled Lily three days weekly.
On my days.
Mark used same center two days weekly during work.
Both portal access.
Attendance notifications.
No secret handoffs.
Then camera.
The marital house had sold.
Kitchen camera removed.
I almost threw it away.
Instead police returned it after evidence copy.
Would I install it in my new townhouse?
No.
I wanted a home, not a surveillance project.
Then Lauren said:
“Cameras can be useful.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to prove recovery by refusing technology.”
Also true.
I installed a doorbell camera only.
No interior camera.
Choice.
Then Mark’s criminal status?
He had not been charged.
Prosecutor declined child-endangerment charges.
Why?
Evidence showed knowing concealment and poor judgment.
But proving beyond reasonable doubt that Mark knowingly placed Lily at substantial risk of physical harm was harder because:
He had not witnessed the face slap before.
Earlier concerns involved one medication incident months prior, verbal harshness, arm grab without injury.
He did tell Diane not to leave marks, concerning.
Still insufficient under charged statute according to prosecutor.
No criminal case.
DCF finding remained.
Family court remained.
Employer benefit correction remained.
Different systems.
I hated that Mark could say:
“I wasn’t charged.”
Lauren told me:
“If he says that in court as though it resolves safety, we remind the judge standards differ.”
He didn’t.
At the next hearing Mark said:
“I understand DCF’s finding.”
That was better.
Then Dr. Monroe recommended:
Overnights begin.
I wanted to object.
Lily was two.
Mark had completed months of appropriate daytime parenting.
No Diane.
Daycare transparent.
Home apartment safe.
No reason beyond my distrust.
Judge approved one overnight weekly.
The first one happened on a Thursday.
I cried after Mark drove away.
Then checked daycare app three times even though daycare was closed.
May you like
Old habits search for screens.
I put phone down.
