Complicated Divorce for High Profile Couple
- Client: Mr. and Ms. Chan
- Length of Marriage: 7 years
- Length of Separation: 6 days
- Applying for: Divorce
- Challenges:
- Highly emotional marriage and separation
- High profile couple
BACKGROUND
Devastated, Ms. Chan came to Tsang and Associates looking for assistance in obtaining a divorce from her husband Mr. Chan. They had been married since January 3, 2008 and had experienced the joys and the highs that came with marriage. All was going well until a recent falling-out. Conflicts began to arise, tensions started to flare, and communication ceased to exist. No longer could they stand to be together; they believed that they could not be with each other and live happily anymore. The couple had already separated, left each other, and moved out, decidedly ready to start the divorce process.
As such, Ms. Chan distraughtly came to Tsang and Associates in hopes that we would be able to represent her in this divorce against her husband Mr. Chan. However, we recommended to Ms. Chan that much time and money could be saved if they decided to resolve the situation by mediation in order to avoid the lengthy divorce settlement process and ensuing legal fees; filing an uncontested divorce with the settlement complete would be preferred. Though at first they were unwilling to participate in mediation, our attorney urged them to attempt to accomplish the divorce through this way, as we believed that they were extremely close to avoiding a cut-throat divorce process. Due to the emotionally charged nature of the separation, it was difficult for the couple to willingly go through this process. However, eventually they agreed to give it a try. Per our attorney’s suggestion, both Ms. Chan and her husband came into our office.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
During the mediation time, there were several specific stipulations and agreements that Mr. Chan and Ms. Chan desired. Even though they did not have any children, there was strong debate over who would take custody of the pet. As each person felt a strong connection to their dog, this was a point of contention. However, our attorney led Mr. and Ms. Chan to a conciliatory agreement where Ms. Chan would be able to retain the dog. On the other hand, it was agreed upon that Mr. Chan would receive nearly $10,000 cash for the full return of wedding gifts from Ms. Chan. In addition, the couple made specific note of the intimate videos, pictures, and recordings they produced during their marriage. As such, Ms. Chan was adamant that these records be destroyed. This led our attorney to guide an agreement in which Mr. Chan promised to “seek and destroy all intimate videos, photos, media, and any media recordings concerning [Ms. Chan], and not disclose these files to any third party”. Ms. Chan wanted to make sure that there would be no duplicates of the records nor any threats as a result of their potential exposure, especially due to their high profile status. Furthermore, the couple agreed to return their respective wedding bands bought by their spouse’s family, fully completing their emotional divorce. All division of assets and unique conditions were agreed upon. Our attorney was able to calmly ensure a peaceful mediation process despite the pain, hurt, and emotions enshrouding this divorce.
OUTCOME
The intricacies of the agreement were successfully worked out and agreed upon on October 2, 2015, proving to be a satisfactory and effective mediation process.Our attorney, after guiding the marriage agreement, was able to then file an uncontested divorce on October 5, 2015. The divorce was approved on February 29, 2016.