Post: #1

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=8101209

I was doing some research on asset protection and I came across the name H. Beatty Chadwick. Apparently, the man refused to pay his ex-wife after she filed for divorce and set the record for time served in jail for contempt of court (14 years!) while refusing to cough up a single cent. After all that time, the judge finally decided that he wasn't gonna pay up, so they released him.

Looking at the evidence, it seemed like he was shameless in how badly he concealed the $2.75M in net worth, and yet it's interesting to see that it was more or less completely protected from creditors. Also, the article recounts the wife's statements that he was notoriously domineering and stingy which seems to fall in line with his unorthodox behavior. Still, I can't help but admire a man who would go to such lengths to block any sort of financial reward to an ex-wife. Guy's got the most white-bread name ever, but impossible to deny he's in possession of a street gangster's pitbull mentality.

Flawed hero or not, I hear divorce rape stories on a weekly basis, so it's nice to get a little taste from the other side once in a while.

Post: #2

Is 14 years also a record for American civil disobedience?

Post: #3

Also, if he was able to put the money on the run, he should have done the same thing with his body and spent the past 14 years banging hotties in Asia/Eastern Europe.

Post: #4

All that can be avoided by signing a fucking prenup. You know, a $1,000 piece of papers that will protect all your assets and remove all incentives for your wife to leave you?

Post: #5

(04-26-2017 11:11 PM)DarkTriad Wrote:  Also, if he was able to put the money on the run, he should have done the same thing with his body and spent the past 14 years banging hotties in Asia/Eastern Europe.

Yeah, I would've done the same thing, but who knows what his intentions were. It seems from another story that he was a model inmate and befriended everyone from prisoners to guards so perhaps it was him making a moral stand.

(04-26-2017 11:28 PM)Rawmeo Wrote:  All that can be avoided by signing a fucking prenup. You know, a $1,000 piece of papers that will protect all your assets and remove all incentives for your wife to leave you?

Sure, not disagreeing with you, but he seemed to make the most of it after the initial mistake. This is wife #2 so I'm wondering if she would've even gone through with the marriage if a prenup was on the table. Also curious: do you have a prenup with your Thai wife in Thailand? Or is that even necessary there?

Post: #6

Seriously though, what is the best way to conceal money?

Do I just buy gold bars and hide that in a safe? Do I send my money to an overseas bank account. I'm not American so theoretically it shouldn't be as difficult to do this.

Post: #7

Very brave man. If all men would prefer jail to alimony then the state would have no choice but to abolish alimony, because having large numbers of men drop out of workforce and live in jail on taxpayer money is not good for the economy.

I know most men would not be ready to spend time in jail and would rather pay, but it is important for any to make his wife realize that in case she ever decides to divorce rape him then the man would fight dirty and make sure there is no good ending for her too, either legally or illegally, scorched earth tactics will be used.

Post: #8

(04-26-2017 11:28 PM)Rawmeo Wrote:  All that can be avoided by signing a fucking prenup. You know, a $1,000 piece of papers that will protect all your assets and remove all incentives for your wife to leave you?

I think this Ironclad prenup idea doesn't hold water.
Judges frequently dismiss prenups for a variety of reasons. There are a few examples in this link although it is non-exhaustive.http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefflanders/...valid/amp/


If you are married and have assets you are always exposed to some degree. A prenup MAY negate some of your exposure but it is not a silver bullet protecting you from a system designed to screw men over.

Post: #9

(04-27-2017 04:56 AM)azulsombra Wrote:  

(04-26-2017 11:28 PM)Rawmeo Wrote:  All that can be avoided by signing a fucking prenup. You know, a $1,000 piece of papers that will protect all your assets and remove all incentives for your wife to leave you?

I think this Ironclad prenup idea doesn't hold water.
Judges frequently dismiss prenups for a variety of reasons. There are a few examples in this link although it is non-exhaustive.http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefflanders/...valid/amp/


If you are married and have assets you are always exposed to some degree. A prenup MAY negate some of your exposure but it is not a silver bullet protecting you from a system designed to screw men over.

Don't forget common law marriages. In a country where this exists be super careful about cohabitating with a girlfriend.

Post: #10

(04-27-2017 12:45 AM)[email protected] Wrote:  Seriously though, what is the best way to conceal money?

Do I just buy gold bars and hide that in a safe? Do I send my money to an overseas bank account. I'm not American so theoretically it shouldn't be as difficult to do this.

That's akin to asking a public forum where you can buy cocaine or how to traffic sex workers.

The easiest answer is that all wealth belongs to the government, and if you're lucky they'll benevolently allow you to keep a portion of it with the tacit agreement that you can keep on being their work mule as long as you follow their rules. Otherwise Caesar will lock you in a cage and seize the rest of your assets.

Post: #11

(04-27-2017 12:45 AM)[email protected] Wrote:  Seriously though, what is the best way to conceal money?

Do I just buy gold bars and hide that in a safe? Do I send my money to an overseas bank account. I'm not American so theoretically it shouldn't be as difficult to do this.

Theres a thread on this subject. Just don't remember what it was called. Anyone remember?

Post: #12

14 years is a long time to spend in jail over $2.75 million. If he was worth a fuck as an attorney he could have made back much of what he would have paid to his wife. All the money in the world can't buy back 14 years.

This guy sounds like a miser. One of those people who would eat rotten food and give himself food poisoning before he'd throw the food away and buy fresh.

There's nothing noble about his actions. His actions changed nothing. He wasted 14 years of his life.

Post: #13

If he was able to somehow conceal his assets from the government then how was it even known he had $2.75m of worth?

If you are already covering up your assets diligently then you should easily be able to show that you aren't worth as much and you can not pay as much alimony.

Also, as DarkTriad said, if one is already going to lengths to cover up your assets and keep it from the government then you might as well go all in and flee the country to avoid any and all legal liability. That is what Dave Foley did to avoid jailtime due to his divoirce.

Post: #14

Is there any way to buy boullion with cash/ no paper trail?

Post: #15

Maybe he was smart enough to have bought SPY ETFs to follow the S&P index. 2.75M Would have grown to around 7.5M today using a yearly return of 7.42%. Divide that by 14 years and he was banking a little under half a million each year to stay in jail. On top of that his wife didn't get a dime. Some guys would be down for that.

Anyone want to check if my math is right:
(2,750,000*1.0742^14)/14 = 535,714 per year

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SPY/performance?p=SPY

Post: #16

(04-26-2017 11:28 PM)Rawmeo Wrote:  All that can be avoided by signing a fucking prenup. You know, a $1,000 piece of papers that will protect all your assets and remove all incentives for your wife to leave you?

Prenups can be gotten around by some skilled lawyers.

Post: #17

(04-27-2017 10:43 AM)General Stalin Wrote:  If he was able to somehow conceal his assets from the government then how was it even known he had $2.75m of worth?

If you are already covering up your assets diligently then you should easily be able to show that you aren't worth as much and you can not pay as much alimony.

Also, as DarkTriad said, if one is already going to lengths to cover up your assets and keep it from the government then you might as well go all in and flee the country to avoid any and all legal liability. That is what Dave Foley did to avoid jailtime due to his divoirce.

From the articles I've read, it seems like he shamelessly transferred all of his assets to a foreign corporation/trust and his defense was, "I don't know what happened, they lost it". Also refused to cooperate with forensic accountants and had many bald faced denials of signing paperwork and pushing papers to enact his plan even with eyewitnesses testifying they saw him sign, etc...

As I said before, he was actually bad about hiding it, that's likely why the judge had such a hard-on for keeping him in jail for so long. I think the more notable points in this story are his indomitable willpower and the court/creditor's inability to get any sort of recovery for the ex wife.

Post: #18

He preferred prison to paying alimony to an insufferable bitch. Makes sense.

Post: #19

Talk about taking one for the team.

Post: #20

Screw 14 years in jail, take all my money for the rest of my life before that.

Post: #21

Poor move. Pay 50%, move on, and make more money. You can always make more money, but you can never make more time. Spending over a decade in jail out of spite is asinine. If he wanted to take rel revenge on his ex-wife, he should have kept sending her pictures of endless young women he smashed.

Post: #22

(04-27-2017 10:16 AM)porscheguy Wrote:  14 years is a long time to spend in jail over $2.75 million. If he was worth a fuck as an attorney he could have made back much of what he would have paid to his wife. All the money in the world can't buy back 14 years.

This guy sounds like a miser. One of those people who would eat rotten food and give himself food poisoning before he'd throw the food away and buy fresh.

There's nothing noble about his actions. His actions changed nothing. He wasted 14 years of his life.

He also set a precedent. He probably represented himself. This is a miserable story, it should scare every white knight here away from marriage, but it wont. Look at where his ego got him. Hire a good lawyer, negotiate like a giant asshole, get to rock bottom, then strike a deal. Easy strategy. Lets say he did net $500K a year at best, which is remarkable in itself. Would you take the risk of a shank to the kidney for that?

Post: #23

Just playing the devils advocate but for what he did he was probably in a white collar or similar prison, not a supermax gang infested hell hole. I've spoken to some guys who are very intelligent and straight up said they'd go to jail for a few years if the payoff was high enough. 14 years is a long ass time though.

Post: #24

I can't find the answer to where he served his time. Contempt cases are usually held in county jail that court is in jurisdiction of. Depending on the county jail the stay might not have been nearly as bad as a prison. I would need to be protectup g billions to serve 14 years though.

Post: #25

(04-27-2017 06:14 PM)CaptainChardonnay Wrote:  Just playing the devils advocate but for what he did he was probably in a white collar or similar prison, not a supermax gang infested hell hole. I've spoken to some guys who are very intelligent and straight up said they'd go to jail for a few years if the payoff was high enough. 14 years is a long ass time though.

Take your age and add 14. I can't think of any amount of money that would be worth that. (I'm 30 so I'd be 44.)