California is one of nine community property states that entitles anyone who marries half the other’s income. Innocent people are being victimized everyday by sharks lurking for naive gullible people like me. You can especially find them in churches, perhaps synagogues, and temples. I was caught unawares and unsophisticated in a congregational meeting place. Needing affection, love, and attention, I fell victim for twenty-seven years to a shyster who became a free-loader. He worked but was sophisticated enough not to try a separate secret bank account for fear a divorce would trace his income but, instead, hoarded his income on “things” that he stored all the years, never paying a dime as a married partner for any of the normal things couples are expected to share.
This was all tolerated because of my neediness until the appointed time came to remove and take away all the “loot” he literally stole from me to another state to share with his former wife and children. After sending for his brother to make the trek, loading all the collectible coins, rare plates, and other things into a truck and trailer stuffed to the gill, brother drove for twelve hours, stopped at a motel to rest; next morning truck and trailer had been stolen! Later in the day, they were discovered. Both had been burned to bits and valuable contents well over $250,000 in collected merchandise had been stolen and carted away! I felt so used and taken advantage of but, in the end, justice triumphed. The insurance did not compensate the value reported.
Moral of the story: Girls, ladies, women, brave it out. Don’t be taken, feeling lonely, vulnerable, and needy. Nothing is worth the degradation, demoralization, and emptiness that comes from accepting whatever comes along then getting trapped. I had it all and divorcing was out of the question because I would have lost everything I had worked for, all the time and effort only to be halved with a scam artist!
