My ex and I had a brief 6 month relationship and she fell pregnant. I decided to look after her during the pregnancy and we rented a house together. 9 months later we wished to separate. I learned that she was collecting Centrelink and rental assistance the entire time. She paid no rent, although I concede she cared for the child while I worked (although most of this time the child was at child care which I paid for). All finances were kept completely isolated from each other.
We now share 50/50 custody. It has been nearly 2 years since then and I've tried to start saving for retirement. I've worked really hard only to learn recently of horror scenarios in which exes were privy to 60/40 splits in their favour, almost as if the judge picked it out of a lottery.
I'm now extremely stressed and have lost all my ambition. I can't sleep thinking that huge portions of my future, decades of hard work could be arbitrarily confiscated at any time. I've consulted with 3 different lawyers. One advised that I wait out until 2 years have passed, another aggressively tried to push me into a consent order, and another told me to approach her for a financial agreement.
I've asked her about a financial agreement, but she is complacent, and asking me why it's necessary. She is suspicious. I don't want to explain why its important, because I'll invoke her greed. She can be extremely difficult, and quite vindictive and vengeful. I am posting this in hope that I could be wrong, or if I'm simply screwed for the rest of my life because of what seems to be an ambiguous law, and depends largely on what side of the bed a judge wakes up in 20-30 years time.
We now share 50/50 custody. It has been nearly 2 years since then and I've tried to start saving for retirement. I've worked really hard only to learn recently of horror scenarios in which exes were privy to 60/40 splits in their favour, almost as if the judge picked it out of a lottery.
I'm now extremely stressed and have lost all my ambition. I can't sleep thinking that huge portions of my future, decades of hard work could be arbitrarily confiscated at any time. I've consulted with 3 different lawyers. One advised that I wait out until 2 years have passed, another aggressively tried to push me into a consent order, and another told me to approach her for a financial agreement.
I've asked her about a financial agreement, but she is complacent, and asking me why it's necessary. She is suspicious. I don't want to explain why its important, because I'll invoke her greed. She can be extremely difficult, and quite vindictive and vengeful. I am posting this in hope that I could be wrong, or if I'm simply screwed for the rest of my life because of what seems to be an ambiguous law, and depends largely on what side of the bed a judge wakes up in 20-30 years time.