I think this might be used as his fault when things are brought to court, and financially supporting the kid could be used as a reason to get custody.
If his goal is a divorce with child custody, definitely he should visit LAF, ASAP.
If the duration separated from the kid becomes long, it may not have a good effect to get custody.
Varaibles answered:
Western Friend
English teacher, with a fixed contract plus extra one-on-one tuition
Marriage 15yrs+
In-laws: little contact
further earning potential : limited to more one-on-one classes
Zero extra funds for lawyer, right now.
Child has US & Taiwan passports
Assuming that this Western guy is a responsible, loving parent and it’s in our collective interest for him to remain with his child, I think the best thing to do would be to get the money for a lawyer. Beg or borrow that money if necessary.
Divorces are always messy, vindictive affairs, and it would get a lot worse before it got better, but your friend doesn’t need to worry about the court system being biased against him. I know a local guy who was in a similar situation, and he came out ahead when all was said and done.
Your assumption is necessary. I think he’s a good guy, other folk think he’s a good guy. He appears to be a good father. I don’t even know what a lawyer would start at. It’s not something he wants to think about right now, but agree that’s probably what he needs.
But first, I’ll get him to contact the LAF. His Mandarin is Ok, so he should be able to find someone there to speak to.
Thanks all, for your considered responses.
So, obviously your friend now needs to suck it up and move back in with the wife in order to save some money,
Next time mr Friend gets divorced, tell him to have some money stashed somewhere so he can afford to hire lawyer etc instead of putting himself on a situation like this
ha - I’m not sure Friend will be able to do that, emotionally. But that would be the thing, to move back in, smile, resume the quo, and then silently amass a stash of lawyer money.
It never feels good though, feeding the lawyers. Divorce should be an easier process.