His business, my rights?

[13yrsgone]

My situation is that after 13yrs. of marriage, my husband started out telling me that he wasn't sure if he wanted to be married anymore or not.  After offering to do whatever was needed to make our marriage work to give our 2 kids a stable life, it has now boiled down to the fact that he is moving out and going to try to make a go of it with my best friend.  I have bent over backwards for both of them.  I got her my old job at my company when I got promoted, I have supported him through several businesses and now want to do what I can to protect myself without it getting ugly.  The only assets we have are his truck (paid for) , my car (not paid for but in his name), and 2 very low limit credit cards (both in his name).  We were working on getting his credit cleaned up so that we could buy a house and now I'm stuck because we didn't make an effort on mine. The only other assets we have are his business.  He is currently a 25% partner in one business where he draws a salary and a 50% partner in another that has come out with a product that could either go nowhere or make millions.  He gave out a figure that he would pay for me and the kids to not have to change too much more in our lives.  I want it to be a percentage of his aftertax salary equal to the amount he is willing to pay now rather than a set amount because his salary has the potential of significantly increase that and he has agreed to that. As for the other business, I'm willing to take my 25% and take my chances because it is something that I believe in.  I'm just not sure how I put this in the papers.  Is this something that I can even do? I'm in TX Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Lee Borden]

All the things you describe can be done, but you should visit with your lawyer in TX before you agree to them with your STBX. For example, it's easy in most smaller companies for people to manipulate their salaries if they're trying to stiff somebody who's paid based on their salary. Ditto with a small business for which somebody else owns 25%. Often in cases like this, it's better to go ahead and set a flat rate so there won't be any incentive to push numbers around.

[Jade]

The first thing I would do, if I were in your situation, is contact a lawyer.  And have them run child support based on your state's guidelines.  He could be offering you less than what you would get if you went by them.  In which case, you wouldn't want to accept his offer.  And I don't recommend signing or agreeing to anything without first consulting with an attorney.  

A word of warning, it may get ugly.  Divorce has a way of bringing out the worst in a person.  Keep focused and keep what is in your children's best interests at the top of your priority list.  Good luck.