Andy Beal's Divorce- Forget the Pre-Nup?

In a city where marrying for money is a skill rather than a downfall, the Beal divorce untangles.

Scene: Dallas courts. (Shhhh. The court record is sealed- the good ones always are).

Players: Andy Beal, age 58 (richest man in Dallas of Beal Bank Plano-based and Las Vegas-based) and his attorney Rod Phelan vs. Simona Beal, age 34, and her attorney Larry Friedman.

Time: Now.

Money at stake: BILLIONS. (Tiger Woods only paid $100 million and was dirty, dirty; Mr. Beal on the other-hand has allegedly no indiscretions)

Children: 4

Years of Marriage: 14

Check List:

• Pre-Nup... YES
• Post-Nup... YES

Question: In a fourteen-year marriage, with a premarital agreement and postmarital agreement, what is there left to litigate?

Answer: Wife wants $5 billion dollars with exemplary damages, making allegations of a "sexual nature" and additionally saying that Beal's company agent raided her home and stole information related to this litigation. Husband is firm that he did not have relations outside of the marriage.

Moral of the Story: You can't be too careful. Even when you plan ahead, you may land yourself in court. Even a man who competed with NASA and played excellent high-stakes professional poker, still played a wild-card with this woman. Marrying beauty and youth has its detractions.

Top Ten Things to Tell your Lawyer in the First Consultation

Before you walk into the match, and step into the boxing ring, please consider telling your family lawyer the whole truth. Not telling your lawyer the whole truth in the first interview can be like sending your lawyer into the ring without her gloves on. So, consider answering the following ten questions before the interview. Share these with your lawyer so that you can get a fair "fight." Even if your lawyer forgets to ask some of these questions, offer your list of answers to the following:

1. What is the worst thing that somebody would say about you, even if it weren't true?
2. Do you have any friends in common with the other party? Would they testify against you?
3. Do you have a criminal record?
4. Have you ever been treated for mental illness, addiction or placed in a treatment center for mental health issues?
5. Have you ever had another lawyer for this case? If so, why are you sitting in this office?
6. Do you have a CPS history?
7. Do you have any other children that either a) don't live with you and/or b) you are not financially supporting?
8. Have you ever been involved in other litigation? What was the result?
9. Are you telling the truth?
10. Have you forgotten to tell me anything that would be integral in representing you or understanding who you are?

You can love your kids or hate your spouse- but you can't do both

Headlines this week: "Woman arrested for parental alienation in New York." Mom, who had primary custody of her two daughters, was accused of programing her children to hate their father. Mom made the father come to her driveway for Hanukkah celebrations in the middle of winter outside; she uttered the words, "I wish you got cancer," in the presence of her darling children; and, she trashed gifts from dad and his relatives. These actions were not only condemned by the court, but a Long Island, New York judge sentenced a woman to six weekends in jail for repeatedly undermining her ex-husband’s relationship with their two daughters. Apparently, even celebrities are afflicted with this problem. Dennis Hopper's (of the film Easy Rider) daughter was forbidden to attend her own father's funeral because Mr. Hopper insisted that his ex-wife be banned from the ceremony and his daughter lived with mom.

Parental alienation has been called "Divorce Poison" by Dr. Warshak of UT Southwestern Medical Center. See www.warshak.com/. Dr. Gardner has defined Parental Alienation Syndrome ("PAS") as: "a childhood disorder that arises almost exclusively in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child’s campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parent’s indoctrinations and the child’s own contributions to the vilification of the target parent. When true parental abuse and/or neglect is present, the child’s animosity may be justified and so the parental alienation syndrome explanation for the child’s hostility is not applicable." See, The Parental Alienation Syndrome (Second Edition), by Dr. Richard A. Gardner, 1998. (The only reported Texas case in which Dr.Gardner’s opinions are sited is Ochs vs. Martinez, 789 S.W. 2d 949, San Antonio, May 16,1990. In the Ochs v. Martinez case the San Antonio Court of Appeals struggled with whether a psychologist could express an opinion regarding an alleged victim of child abuse veracity or truthfulness.)

So...moral of the story: You can love your kids or hate your spouse, but you can't do both. In fact if you do hate your spouse enough to negatively impact your children, you may find yourself spending weekend behind bars.