Jaco’s Story

When I married Paulina I thought I was the luckiest man alive. She was beautiful and envied by other women. She was my trophy wife I suppose – younger than me by about twenty years and other guys looked at me as though I’d hit the jackpot. She knew it of course and her beauty cost a small fortune to maintain. I knew it and thought it was all worth it. Also, I thought I was clever because I’d already realised that she couldn't resist spending a fortune on herself so I’d insisted on an Ante Nuptial Contract without accrual. I had protected myself and my businesses from her hedonistic spending.

The first purchase I made after marrying was my new McLaren F1. Fast and expensive cars are one of my hobbies and I’d wanted one of these for my collection for a long time. The funny thing was that when I took it for a test drive Paulina threw a hissy fit and there was no love or sex in our home for a few weeks just because she wanted to be a co-owner. She wasn’t into driving and didn’t drive well so I gave in because I knew the thought of driving this monster would petrify her.

All went well for a while until I wanted to buy a block of flats as an investment. Paulina behaved even worse this time and the cold front she put up was so icy that in the end, for the sake of peace in the home, I gave in and she became co-owner. It didn’t really matter, after all, what was she intending to do about it, except brag?

There were many more purchases and business investments but Paulina was work resistant and not too bright so it was of no importance that she co-owned most of my assets because she hadn’t the brains so do anything with them.

My few close friends all warned me that I was on the wrong track and should see an Attorney. They told me I was in danger of losing everything. Naturally, I didn’t believe them and ignored their advice. I thought I was having fun and finally getting everything I’d ever wanted.

She also didn’t want to have children because of the effect it would have on her figure and the fact that children are hard work. I, on the other hand, was completely set on having a family. This was the cause of many terrible fights between us and we both got tired of it, so we struck a strange bargain. She would give birth to the children but do nothing else for them. It would be up to me to provide the rest. It was also going to cost me quite a bit in jewellery. Deciding that having a family was worth acceding to such strange terms, I agreed.

We made a few, extremely expensive visits to the jewellers, then Paulina spent her time during her two pregnancies almost entirely between her bedroom and the exclusive Clinic she had chosen for the births. Her gynaecologist saw more of my wife than I did. Finally, I was getting the family I had always wanted. Unfortunately, this was not the way I had dreamed about it and it seemed to me that I was buying everything – even a wife and children.

After about three years, and two beautiful children later, I hardly saw my wife. She was always at cocktails, fashion shows, and weekends away with the girls. She went to health spas, on shopping sprees – or wherever the Chauffeur I’d hired for her, was instructed to drive her. The care giving, upbringing and education of my wonderful kids was left entirely to me. Obviously I hired a nanny and a cook to take care of the young children while I was working. However, I wasn’t prepared for the full effect of fatherhood and the way it changes your life. I found myself wanting to get more and more involved with the daily care of my kids – and I personally got quite proficient at nappy changing, feeding them, cooking for them, playing with them and reading to them. This meant that on the occasions when Paulina wanted to have a night on the town, I preferred to stay at home with our children.

With an absent wife and Mother - out and about all the time and not caring about the kids or me; and me turning into a stay at home Dad, I had a lot of time to think. I’d heard a lot of rumours about Paulina having affairs and admittedly she was still flaunting herself in front of the guys.

It was around this time that I made several discoveries:

My marriage was a farce;

I’d been more in love with the idea of Paulina than with the person herself;

Paulina was not brain dead and had already started negotiations to sell her half share of several of my business interests;

My friends had been right; I was in serious danger of losing a fortune.

I contacted the Divorce and Family Law team at Martin Vermaak Attorneys and during our consultation they confirmed that I was right in my suspicions. They told me they would act quickly on my behalf and try to salvage what they could.

Let me tell you that it’s always best to consult with specialists. This team of experts at Martin Vermaak Attorneys moved fast and were nothing short of brilliant. It cost me a couple of properties to get Paulina out of my life and get my children into my full care. Compared to what I gained, I can easily live with the few losses – especially considering that Martin Vermaak stopped me from losing it all!

I’ll always use Martin Vermaak Attorneys in the future for all my different business matters.

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