Here's a interesting question I heard from someone else...Should I buy a motorcycle before or after my divorce?I suppose the knee-jerk reaction is to say that he should buy it after the divorce, to prevent the wife from wanting half of it (liquidating it).
But then again, I wonder if buying the motorcycle before the divorce is better. After the divorce, it's likely the husband won't have the money to afford one.
He may be left paying alimony and/or child support, and on top of that, won't have a wife to contribute additional income. Therefore, it might be best to spend all the cash now, and buy the motorcycle.
It's also assumed that he will lose the house and all of its furnishings, as well as the savings account and retirement account. Basically, he'll be left with shit. But if he spends the money now and buys that motorcycle, he can at least voluntarily offer to give up everything else but the motorcycle. Otherwise, if he waits until after the divorce, he may not have the money.
It would be wise to buy the motorcycle with just his name on it.
But let's say that during the divorce hearings, the judge forces him to sell the motorcycle and split the money 50/50. That's not bad anyways, because it'll take several months to sell it off during these hard economic times, and he can still ride it during that time. Again, if he waits until after the divorce, he may never be able to afford it.
But what if the person asking this question is the wife? Does that change anything?
Well then, maybe it'll be better to wait until after the divorce. During the divorce hearings, she'll want to do everything she can to win the sympathy of the judge. So, she'll want to refrain from splurging on luxuries until after it's settled.
Now, I've never been through a divorce, so I don't know this by experience. I'm just speculating here.
If any of you bikers reading this have experience with divorce, how did you deal with the motorcycle?
When I took the MSF course, one of the guys had just bought an almost new bike. He was a fireman who also did landscaping work. While on a job, he noticed a sharp bike in the garage, and remarked to the customer, a recently divorsed lady, what a neat bike it was. She asked if he wanted to buy and how much he would pay. She sold her ex's bike for about of third of its value.
ReplyDeleteBuy the bike in your best mates name, after the divorce, transfer the title back to yourself.
ReplyDeleteBuying a bike might lead to Divorce.. In my separation the motorcycles were one of the few tangible things that I was left with. Tools too - gotta have one's tools, you can always get new furniture!
ReplyDeleteIt doesnt matter. If you buy it before the divorce with a loan attached, the loan will balance it off. Sure, she will get half of the asset. She will also get half of the liability.
ReplyDelete