Dividing property in a divorce is never easy, especially when the divorce is contentious. There are many ways that people go about dispersing their property, but one Texas woman may have found a totally new method of destroying her own separate property. The Houston resident decided to get rid of her ex-husband’s property by holding a massive garage sale.
After suffering for years in a marriage that the woman claims was abusive and violent, the divorcée decided to host a public act of catharsis. As part of the divorcée’s property distribution arrangement, she had been awarded several pieces of marital property as well as items that had belonged to her ex-husband. She took all of the items that reminded her of the bad times spent with her now-despised former spouse and sold them at a garage sale.
The pièce de résistance involved one very symbolic piece of property from her marriage: her own separate property wedding dress. The woman invited her friends, family, neighbors and random garage-sale goers to sign the white gown with Sharpie markers. Then, she strung the wedding gown up and burned it until it was ash. All the while, guests noshed on doughnuts and mimosas.
Seem a bit harsh? The woman claimed that her partner had been emotionally abusive, unfaithful and physically violent. He is currently serving seven years of probation and community service for assaulting a family member. In an interview for the news cameras that had gathered at the dress-burning, she stated, “This is for every woman who has ever been in a relationship that was abusive, that hurt, that they shouldn’t have stayed in, that they didn’t know how to get out of.”
If this woman’s actions are inspiring you to hold your own divorce garage sale, there are a couple things to know. Be sure that you do not sell or damage any property that was not awarded to you in the divorce. If in doubt about what you are legally allowed to sell or destroy, you may wish to consult with an experienced Board-certified family law expert attorney first. If you sell something that is rightfully your ex-partner’s, you could face legal trouble. If you wish to destroy a wedding dress or tuxedo because of the bad memories that it holds, just avoid the fire hazard and simply throw it away rather than burn it.