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Hi everyone.
Husband and I are divorcing after 21 years of marriage. We had acquired a good amount of assets in the 21 years and I had a standard of living that was such that I did not have to worry about money. He was emotionally abusive and after our only child graduated from high school the husband started pulling away emotionally from the marriage. After a blow up and subsequent emotional beating from him I decided to divorce.
He is offering me only a split of assets (which is not 100% as he has a cash in hand business and I am completely sure he has been amassing cash for at least the last 3 years) with no alimony. Part of the assets he is offering me is a commercial building which current has 3 renters in it, no leases in place, and a 4300 sf. space that is vacant. He is offering me 500.00/mo. rent on that space although it is worth 1200.00 a month. This would give me an income of approx. 3K a month. His business is valued at 800K-1M, (per a CPA who did not do a full valuation) not including the real estate it sits on. The commercial building he is planning on giving me, debt free, is valued at approx. 300K, top end.
The problem is this: The 3K a month and what little money I make, (Realtor in down times, taxable income last 3 years 15K) will not be able to maintain the lifestyle I am accustomed to and pay for the additional expenses of owning a commercial building. I will be short approx. 2500.00 a month.
I am 51 years old with a GED and I will need to pay cash for my next home from the proceeds of the home which my husban is buying me out from, and, I may still have to take a line of credit out or a small mortgage in order to have a decent place to live.
Am I crazy to feel that my husband should compensate me further with alimony? Will a judge laugh me out of court if I were to ask for it?
This is a very serious dilemma for me and all of the practical guidance you can share will be greatly appreciated.

"will not be able to maintain the lifestyle I am accustomed to"
I tend not to feel terribly sorry for folks on this one. When you take a certain amount of money for one household and then make it support two households, the standard of living of the two new houses will almost necessarily go down.

"Am I crazy to feel that my husband should compensate me further with alimony?"
Alimony is granted more often in cases where one spouse has been staying at home with kids for many years. You don't really state this one way or the other, except that you have been working the last 3 years.

I'll presume that 100% of the assets have been accumulated during marriage. I'm not an expert in TN state law, but most of the time, that means you're entitled to roughly half of that value. If he wants to keep "his" business, then he can find another $800k-$1M in other assets to give you. If those assets don't exist, then he can agree to pay out an amount over time such that the assets would be equal in the end.

Thanks for your speedy reply.
I was a stay home mom for 12, giving up my job to provide a better life for my child.
I don't fully intend to completely maintain my lifestyle as I knew it but this divorce, because he has hidden assets, will not change his life one iota. All I want to do is to be able to live independently without having to go back to him and ask for assistance. At 51 there is so much to consider, ie: long term care insurance, retirement when no retirement is provided for, health insurance at 614. a month tied in with an HSA at 2500 a year. Regarding the commercial building, taxes of 4800.00 year, insurance at 2500. a year, maintenance, LLC fees...heck, won't leave much money to live on, hence the 2500K a month shortfall.
After 21 years and providing the background support for him to create this wealth, I don't feel like I should be left worrying about money. On the other hand, I also do not want a court battle, as that will entail a PI, CPA's and God knows whatelse.

What's the total value of the home? How much of that is equity and how much is debt?

The appraised value of the home is 325K. 67K debt. His buyout would be 129K, not including prorated taxes, closing fees, quitclaim fees etc.

You'll have to sit down and run the numbers, but just off the cuff:
If he paid off the rest of the house and gave the entirety of it to you, along with the rest of what you listed as what he wanted to give to you, you would be pretty close to even. I wouldn't bother accepting the $500/month lease if you really can get $1200 for it.

No Beaver,
I would be 200K down as I am letting my 50% of the business go. The payoff on the commercial building he is giving me was only 75K. So, in buying me out of the marital home and paying off the commercial building he assumes 142K in debt. Gross value of marital property is 1.43M. He is offering me $445,920. of those assets. He is assuming a total 142K in debt in order to keep the house and pay off the 75K on the commercial building he is giving me. In chosing to keep the house he will refi my split and the 67K, but, that is his choice, so, I am not considering the 129K split on the house as a debt I need to consider, as, he could sell the house instead.
Now, all that being said, he will have a net worth of 842K and I will have a net worth 446K, a difference of approx. 200K on a 50/50 split. 200K divided by 2500. a month alimony comes to about 7 years of alimony, in which I will be 58 years old when it ends.
Okay, I guess my orignial post was about whether or not a judge would see this my way and see it as fair. I don't want to spend the money (about 10grand in addition to the 3K retainer) to end up in the same position as I am now.
Granted the commercial building is an income producer, but, I am going to have to struggle to keep it and keep my head above water.

If:
1) The gross value is $1.43M
2) The net value is $1.29M ($1.43M - $0.14M debt)
Then: you should wind up with a net of about $650k
The house is worth $325k. The commercial building is worth $300k. $325k + $300k = $625k.
Okay, so it's not exact, but it's not terribly far off.

You're right, didn't get your drift until after I sent my last email.
Now, just got to figure how far I want to go with this....

Make a counter. Lay out the math just as I've done. You'll want to put a little more detail into the gross value, but my guess is that once you've made it clear to him that you can do math and you do have some idea what things are worth, he'll be a little more cooperative. His split is probably based on the idea that you're stupid. If you can convince him otherwise, you'll make headway.