Shocked woman finds out she owns 15 properties

Libby-Jane Charleston
3 min readDec 25, 2020

Joanne had lived decades of frugality. But when she filed for divorce she was shocked to learn just how rich she was.

Joanne never knew about the property portfolio her husband had built, while he constantly made her cut basic costs. (Image is generic, not part of the portfolio).Source:Supplied

WHEN 63-year-old Joanne* decided to leave her marriage, she visited a lawyer so she could understand what percentage of the couple’s assets would belong to her, post-divorce.

The marriage had been good in the early years, as both Joanne and her husband worked hard and raised their family. But, the later years were fraught with difficulty as they drifted apart and had constant arguments which led to domestic violence

Joanne, who lives in Queensland, Australia, said her husband led her to believe they were hard up for money and she struggled with the household budget to feed the family.

“My ex-husband always told me that we were low on money and had me come up with a budget for the weekly grocery bill,” Joanne said.

“When I needed more money for something for the children or myself he would tell me that there was no more money and that me or the children would have to go without. He even said that we were struggling to afford basic living costs and extras were a ‘no-no’. I was told that I had to give up any luxuries and do everything I could to save money.”

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Libby-Jane Charleston

Journalist, ex-ABC TV, HuffPost AU Assoc Editor, ABC TV, author, poet, mother of 3 boys, cancer Survivor, history lover