Editor, Ceres Courier,
I started working at the age of 11, and my parents put half of my money in my college fund. I have never had any bad habits except for the occasional gambling holiday.
When I got married in 1992 at 40 years old I was free of debt. I had doubled up on my mortgage payments for many years and was able to pay off my home in less than 20 years. I had also paid off my college loans and credit cards by that time.
My wife brought into the marriage no savings, a second-hand car, and one piece of furniture. We had no children by our marriage.
We separated after 14 years of marriage, and got divorced eight years later, which took over four years to finalize. During this time, our rental houses and the primary home were sold. Of special note, in 2014 two sheriffs came to my home and evicted me, telling me I had a restraining order placed against me by my ex-wife. I explained to them my ex-wife hadn't lived with me in eight years. They told me they were just following court orders. I was allowed by the sheriffs five minutes to get my personal things out of the house. I was very sickly after having major heart surgery in the middle of the drawn-out and primitive divorce proceedings, and had had to learn to read again during rehabilitation. I was 61 by then, and had been a stable home owner since age 26.
What would you have taken if you only had five minutes and the sheriffs said they would check back and arrest you if you were not gone?
After my ex-wife received most of the assets, and then my attorneys took more than 100 percent of what was left, I was without any funds. I rented a room and was by then seriously in debt.
The activities in court were not like crime, they were crime. I therefore recommend people celebrate their union with the church's blessing only. DivorceCorp.Com reports that our present divorce system costs the public $50 billion per year. Marry with a church marriage certificate only! Do not involve the government with spiritual matters of love.
Our present divorce system is biased heavily towards the financial self-interests of the attorneys. I saw no benefits to my ex-wife as she is part of a wealthy family and will never want for money. I trusted my attorney. Big mistake.
My primary home was forcibly sold far under market value. My friend's personal loans to me were disallowed by the court, including $25,000 in 2009 (three years after my wife moved out) when the banks would not have loaned to anyone, much less to an adult school English teacher whose hours had been cut in half. I would have gone belly up in 2009 without these funds, and my ex-wife, who had left three years before, would have had nothing to litigate for.
The national statistics show that young people are veering away from marriage at an ever increasing rate, and in my opinion their decision is correct. I also freely admit that my ex-wife's attorney was smarter, more organized and more conniving than mine.
But ultimately, is this the divorce system America either wants or needs?
Calvin Yost
Turlock
LETTERS POLICY: Letters to the editor will be considered for publication but must be signed and include an address and phone number. Letters should be 250 words or less and be void of libel. Send to The Ceres Courier, 138 S. Center Street, Turlock CA 95380 or emailed to jeffb@cerescourier.com.
