Chapter 8 - Richard Filed for Divorce Before I Did
My father filed first.
Three days after party.
Clara received papers at attorney’s office.
Dad did not seek annulment because their fifteen-year marriage was legally real, regardless of affair.
He sought divorce.
Separate-property confirmation.
Temporary financial orders.
Injunction against transferring or encumbering ranch.
Preservation of marital records.
Clara’s attorney responded aggressively.
She was pregnant.
She had been financially dependent on Richard.
She claimed his sudden cutoff endangered her medical care and housing.
Dad had not cut off medical insurance.
He had frozen only extraordinary transfers and joint investment withdrawals.
His lawyer made sure ordinary expenses continued under temporary orders.
Good.
I did not want revenge disguised as financial control.
Clara remained in their house initially.
Dad stayed elsewhere.
The biggest issue was unborn child.
Under marriage, Texas law could presume husband as father at birth absent challenge.
Dad’s attorney explained paternity could be adjudicated after birth or through lawful procedures.
No one forced prenatal testing.
Richard did not.
He said:
“I won’t turn the pregnancy into a medical procedure because adults lied.”
That was one of his best decisions.
Clara continued insisting:
“It may be yours.”
True.
Dad responded:
“That uncertainty is exactly what you hid.”
Also true.
May you like
She was not punished for uncertainty.
She was judged for deception.
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