{"id":3558,"date":"2026-03-13T05:48:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T05:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558"},"modified":"2026-03-13T11:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T11:11:56","slug":"gift-gambit","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558","title":{"rendered":"Gift Gambit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>\nbody {\n    font: 15px\/1.5 arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\n}\n\n.ltr-one {\n    float: left;\n    font-size: 35px;\n    line-height: 1;\n    font-weight: bold;\n    margin-right: 5px;\n    color: #922B21;\n    font-family: \"Times New Roman\", Times, serif;\n    text-shadow: #17202A .05em .05em;\n}\n<\/style>\n\n\n\n<p><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">March 2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">F<\/span>or the past thirty years, I\u2019ve been hearing and reading about divorce in the United States being a fair 50\/50 split of property. The people pushing that narrative are mostly women and their male allies in the legal system, government and media. \u201cThat\u2019s the law and that\u2019s how it\u2019s carried out,\u201d they say. \u201cSure, there are some variances, but overall it\u2019s 50\/50 and fair.\u201d Right. Here is an example of how it works out in reality.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3559 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart.png 1024w, http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart-300x300.png 300w, http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart-150x150.png 150w, http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart-768x768.png 768w, http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart-50x50.png 50w, http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart-60x60.png 60w, http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart-640x640.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">M<\/span>elissa filed for divorce from Beau. She wasn\u2019t &#8220;happy&#8221; anymore and decided to stop settling for the &#8220;bare minimum.&#8221; Beau had prepared a detailed list of all their joint assets, which was pretty much everything they had because they\u2019d married young when they had nothing. Beau was an Army officer. Melissa had never worked during their six years of marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">M<\/span>elissa\u2019s lawyer began, \u201cWe\u2019d like to go over exclusions, your Honor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cProceed,\u201d replied the judge.<br><br>\u201cWhat are exclusions?\u201d whispered Beau to his attorney. The attorney touched Beau\u2019s arm and motioned for him to remain silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Lladro figurines,\u201d continued Melissa\u2019s lawyer. &#8220;They were all gifts from the respondent.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNoted,\u201d replied the judge. \u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes, the David Winter collection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">H<\/span>eeding his attorney\u2019s advice, Beau remained silent for the next half hour while Melissa\u2019s lawyer listed almost every gift Beau had bought her during the course of their marriage. Including, of course, the diamond wedding ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI believe that completes all the exclusions,\u201d said the lawyer.<br><br>\u201cVery well,\u201d said the judge, \u201cNow on to division of what remains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">W<\/span>hat remains? Beau was confused but knew better than to open his mouth after his attorney\u2019s warning. He watched as the judge parceled out and \u201cawarded\u201d him half of the 40% of remaining assets. His now ex-wife received 80% of everything. Beau was being punished for his generosity of gift-giving during their marriage. Melissa was being rewarded for her selfishness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">O<\/span>f course, those weren\u2019t Beau\u2019s only losses. He also had to pay all legal costs for Melissa (who initiated the divorce), monthly child support and insurance for the next 13 years, and a portion of his military retirement. The last stung particularly hard, as Melissa had effectively torpedoed Beau\u2019s Army career by injecting her feminist world views into the Army wives club and alienating everyone, including the colonel\u2019s wife. Beau\u2019s officer evaluations reflected that political reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">M<\/span>elissa received custody of their son. The judge told Beau that, since he was in the Army, he was not qualified to be a parent. That was too much for Beau and he broke his silence, asking the judge if that constraint also applied to all the single mothers in the Army. His attorney elbowed him in the ribs as the judge told him that he\u2019d jail him for contempt if he opened his mouth again. Beau reveled in his male privilege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">M<\/span>elissa withheld visitation with his son on many occasions. Authorities did nothing. They declared it a \u201ccivil\u201d matter. However, if Beau was just 5 minutes late returning his son from one of the few visitations he received, those same authorities deemed it a \u201ccriminal\u201d matter and threatened him with jail time. More male privilege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">(S)he who can destroy a thing, controls a thing.<\/span><\/p><cite>Frank Herbert<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"ltr-one\">T<\/span>his is the pragmatic reality of a legal system that loudly touts equity and 50\/50. They never talk about the fine print. Frank Herbert wrote long ago, <em>He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing.<\/em> American women can (and do) destroy both marriages and father\u2019s relationships with their children. The legal system ensures that they hold great power in those two areas, with little accountability. Congratulations anti-family and anti-natalists. You\u2019ve won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 2026 For the past thirty years, I\u2019ve been hearing and reading about divorce in the United States being a fair 50\/50 split of property. The people pushing that narrative are mostly women and their male allies in the legal system, government and media. \u201cThat\u2019s the law and that\u2019s how it\u2019s carried out,\u201d they say. \u201cSure, there are some variances, but overall it\u2019s 50\/50 and fair.\u201d Right. Here is an example of how it works out in reality. Melissa filed for divorce from Beau. She wasn\u2019t &#8220;happy&#8221; anymore and decided to stop settling for the &#8220;bare minimum.&#8221; Beau had prepared a detailed list of all their joint assets, which was pretty much everything they had because they\u2019d married young when they had nothing. Beau was an Army officer. Melissa had never worked during their six years of marriage. Melissa\u2019s lawyer began, \u201cWe\u2019d like to go over exclusions, your Honor.\u201d \u201cProceed,\u201d replied the judge. \u201cWhat are exclusions?\u201d whispered Beau to his attorney. The attorney touched Beau\u2019s arm and motioned for him to remain silent. \u201cThe Lladro figurines,\u201d continued Melissa\u2019s lawyer. &#8220;They were all gifts from the respondent.&#8221; \u201cNoted,\u201d replied the judge. \u201cAnything else?\u201d \u201cYes, the David Winter collection.\u201d Heeding his attorney\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3558","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Gift Gambit - Father, Coder, Soldier, Spy<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gift Gambit - Father, Coder, Soldier, Spy\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 2026 For the past thirty years, I\u2019ve been hearing and reading about divorce in the United States being a fair 50\/50 split of property. The people pushing that narrative are mostly women and their male allies in the legal system, government and media. \u201cThat\u2019s the law and that\u2019s how it\u2019s carried out,\u201d they say. \u201cSure, there are some variances, but overall it\u2019s 50\/50 and fair.\u201d Right. Here is an example of how it works out in reality. Melissa filed for divorce from Beau. She wasn\u2019t &#8220;happy&#8221; anymore and decided to stop settling for the &#8220;bare minimum.&#8221; Beau had prepared a detailed list of all their joint assets, which was pretty much everything they had because they\u2019d married young when they had nothing. Beau was an Army officer. Melissa had never worked during their six years of marriage. Melissa\u2019s lawyer began, \u201cWe\u2019d like to go over exclusions, your Honor.\u201d \u201cProceed,\u201d replied the judge. \u201cWhat are exclusions?\u201d whispered Beau to his attorney. The attorney touched Beau\u2019s arm and motioned for him to remain silent. \u201cThe Lladro figurines,\u201d continued Melissa\u2019s lawyer. &#8220;They were all gifts from the respondent.&#8221; \u201cNoted,\u201d replied the judge. \u201cAnything else?\u201d \u201cYes, the David Winter collection.\u201d Heeding his attorney\u2019s [&hellip;]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Father, Coder, Soldier, Spy\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-13T11:11:56+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart.png\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558\",\"name\":\"Gift Gambit - Father, Coder, Soldier, Spy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-13T05:48:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-13T11:11:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PieChart.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gift Gambit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/\",\"name\":\"Father, Coder, Soldier, Spy\",\"description\":\"Random Thoughts\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gift Gambit - Father, Coder, Soldier, Spy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/fathercodersoldierspy.com\/?page_id=3558","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gift Gambit - Father, Coder, Soldier, Spy","og_description":"March 2026 For the past thirty years, I\u2019ve been hearing and reading about divorce in the United States being a fair 50\/50 split of property. 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