WANT TO PREVAIL IN YOUR DIVORCE?

LOOK TO ISRAEL FOR STRATEGY

What’s the best way to win a war?

Start before the other side, then strike first. This was how Israel defeated the much larger combined armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in the Six Day War of June 1967.

Conflict had been brewing in the Middle East ever since Palestinian guerilla groups triggered Israeli reprisals in Jordan and Syria. Tensions escalated throughout the next spring until Egyptian president Gamal Nassar showed Syrian support by using his navy to blockade Israel’s port city of Elat.

But Israel was ready.

It had been monitoring its Arab neighbors closely since 1948. Also, it had spent the previous 12 years building one of the most formidable militaries in the world. Its intelligence service, the Mossad, was second to none.

Early on June 5, Israel responded to the Egyptian blockade by launching a massive, well-coordinated air attack. Within hours, Israel wiped out 90 percent of Egypt’s air force—while it was still on the tarmac.

Israeli tanks then swept through the Sinai all the way to the Suez Canal while simultaneously shelling East Jerusalem with a devasting armor assault.

It was all over in six days.

Israel now controlled the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the West Bank of the Jordan River, the Gaza Strip, and the entire Sinai Peninsula. It was in the perfect position to negotiate a cease fire.

All because it had prepared for this fight years ahead of time.

Divorce may be likened to warfare. If you’re contemplating your own, you should approach divorce the same way. Get ahead of things. Don’t be reactive.

If you’re caught by surprise, you’re likely to find you have no place to live, that key documents are unavailable or have suddenly “disappeared,” and that events are happening far faster than your ability to handle them. Instead, give yourself the head start you need to stake out an advantageous position.

This is exactly what I advised a client we will call Anthony. He had a profitable mail order business estimated to be worth $20 million. He claimed he funded the business 15 years earlier with $10,000 from his own savings. Anthony also insisted his wife Sara had not contributed any money of her own, nor had she participated in the business in any way.

Although Anthony and Sara were getting along okay at the time, he suspected she was being unfaithful. As his counsel, I insisted he document his entire business history ASAP to prove his sole ownership. It took Anthony six months to attain all the necessary records, but he was eventually successful.

This was a good thing. Because in the final phase of such document discovery, he also confirmed Sara was in fact, having an affair.

Devastated to be right about his suspicion, Anthony was also ready.

When time came to divorce and divvy up assets, we could prove beyond a doubt that Anthony’s business was entirely his.

Had he not done this work in advance? The pain of his wife’s infidelity—coupled with the emotional roller-coaster that followed—likely would have made things far harder. Worse, it might have cost him millions and millions of dollars. Instead, like Israel, Anthony prepared ahead of time, and it paid off.

Are you too, facing divorce? I recommend you select the same strategy to get the best possible outcome. For just like in war, preparation is everything.