Nick's Story

My ex wife is a good Attorney – she’s good at her job and knows all the right people. She got the divorce she wanted, got the kids and got a sizeable chunk of my salary in maintenance. Although I sometimes found it difficult to make ends meet, I was happy that our children were financially protected so I didn’t complain.

What I didn’t take into consideration was the impact the annual increase would have on my salary over the years. Last year I was expected to pay an amount of R18 000.00 a month in maintenance and I just couldn’t cope with it. I had re married and my new wife’s nerves were suffering terribly through the strain of this high maintenance. 

Eventually she was very supporting and started her own business in attempt to make ends meet – but it still wasn’t enough.

I pleaded and begged my ex to reconsider the situation – after all she was probably earning more than me at the time - and I couldn’t understand the reason for her unwillingness to stop this unrelenting siege on my finances. She ignored my appeals for mercy and told me she would see me in Court.

So I did the first smart thing I’ve done for a long time and hired the Specialist Divorce and Family Law Team of Martin Vermaak Attorneys.

Martin Vermaak Attorneys also practice Maintenance Law and with them as my Attorneys I was ready to proceed to Court.

Pre Trial preparation was not at all what I expected. Martin Vermaak is an extremely thorough Attorney and the Forensics involved were so invasive that I felt as though my very soul was being laid bare – so I lied. They say you must reveal all to your Attorney but I needed to keep some secrets for myself; so naturally I didn’t tell him everything. I kept back some bank statements and evidence of a few treats I’d allowed myself. Murphy’s Law prevailed because the Forensics Team found them the same morning I was in Court and one of them brought a message to Martin Vermaak in the Courtroom.

You have no idea how stupid I felt therefore when I tripped myself up in Court through lying about my expenses. I’d had a few nice holidays but I didn’t admit that – whilst giving evidence in Court I said I hadn’t had any holidays because I couldn’t afford them. Martin Vermaak got me from Courtroom to his Boardroom so fast my head spun. He then subjected me to the sort of serious lecture I haven’t had since leaving school and home – but he was a lot worse than my headmaster and parents together on a bad day. At that point I couldn’t decide whether I was more scared of him or my ex wife!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, he got involved with settlement negotiations and once back in Court it was made an Order that my maintenance payments had been reduced from R18 000.00 to R7 500.00 per month. How the heck he did that I’ll never know but that’s what a great Attorney does. I’d withheld evidence and even lied and my Attorney still got me the best deal in town. That’s the first time I’ve experienced the difference between a good Attorney and a Top Attorney. Hiring a Specialist Maintenance Team turned out to be my best financial investment of the decade! I’m still scared of my ex wife….

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