No one can compel a spouse to sign a separation agreement. An “agreement” means that both parties sign voluntarily. Coercion, fraud, undue influence or lack of knowledge will void the terms of a separation agreement.
https://www.nclamp.gov/publications/co-counsel-bulletins/separation-agreements/
Why I believe I was tricked into this separation agreement
On the day my wife told me she wanted a separation, she wanted me to leave the house immediately and find another housing situation. I thought I had heard that you should never leave the house before an agreement was signed or you would forfeit certain rights. I voiced this concern and she told me it was fine in this case and normal to leave.
Of course I trusted her since she had practiced law as a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law for 20 years. I trusted her for 20 years and would have even taken a bullet for her. Boy was I misled.
The day after I was kicked out of the house, I received receipts for several different dating sites where she signed up. I even found her profile on Ashley Madison, a well known cheaters website. After the initial shock wore off, I started to realize that she wanted to keep me on the back burner while she sowed her oats with other men. I decided that I would not be walked over anymore and suggested that she draft a separation agreement immediately.
Before she drafted the agreement, she told me that I should agree to waive alimony or it would end up hurting our daughter in the long run. She used the same excuse to get me to agree to not selling the house and instead take half of the equity. As this was right when the housing market was at its peak, she even convinced me to take less than what I should get or it would negatively affect our daughter.
The next thing she wanted was for me to waive any interest in the businesses I help her build over the years. If I pushed to get what I truly deserved, it would cost a lot to have them assessed and that would really hurt our daughter.
Of course I never wanted to hurt my daughter in any way!
To this day, I still have no idea of the amount of money I waived due to her undue influence. I can’t believe I trusted this woman to have my best interests in mind.
Waiving Child Support
We both agreed to waive child support and she put it in the separation agreement that we both signed and notarized. I didn’t know until recently that you can’t waive child support in a separation agreement!
She not only knows better, but she purposely misled me so that I wouldn’t even think about filing for Support.
Here is the first proposal email from Katherine outlining what she wanted and making me feel like it was in my best interests. She also wanted to pick out my attorney instead of me finding my own counsel.
Child Support Fraud and Collusion
Katherine decided to file for child support after our custody court hearing giving me every other weekend. In her filing, she worked directly with her friend at CSE and falsified her income at $115k per year. Here is a CS worksheet she put together that shows her monthly income at 17k. I have never considered myself a math wizard but 17 x 12 = 204 by my calculations.
Eye Witness Account of Collusion and Fraud
When Katherine abandoned our daughter from July 1st, 2022 to January 2nd, 2023 and didn’t contact her for a full month, I had 100% custody with absolutely no support. Katherine refused to pay any support and when I filled for Child Support she had her contacts inside CSE bury my application in a pile that was on the desk of an overworked CSE agent.
I even have some text messages from her live in boyfriend of the conversations he witnessed about this child support filing.
I Feel Betrayed
I have been lied to, tricked, and deceived by the very person that I swore to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.
This will forever shape my approach to any future relationships. I will now look at everything with a skeptics eye that will undoubtedly hinder my ability to ever have a fulfilling relationship during my life.
I would also add that my trust in our court system has been crushed and I hope to reach all of the people paying child support in Wake County, to reveal the truth on how corrupt it is behind the scenes.