I agreed with your lawyer and repeatedly asked if you were sure that the pre-divorce amounts were going to be ongoing. It seemed to me that PA's pre-divorce alimony requirements were likely to make litigation stretch out, endlessly, becasue no one would have motice to settle if they get cut off from the high pre-d alimony monies the minute the judge signs the final decree, but that's PA's weird system.

As your LAWYER what would be a reasonable offer in the circumstances, without regard to what you've offered. You hired a lawyer, are paying the money... so let her do her JOB and give you some legal counsel. And with HER, don't do as you've done with US and present her with a deal you think is GREAT... where you get all the property and make her walk out the door with zero... then pay a ton of alimony to make up for it. No asking about what kind of manipulations you can come up with to reduce the value of your house to zero so that you never have to make an equalizing payment for it... just give her the whole story and ASK what she thinks is a reasonable settlement.

And don't be surprised if she says you owe $5,000 in equalizing payments but maybe will only have to pay $300 alimony for 5 years... and in the long run.... you come out ahead... $5,000 plus $300 X 5 years equals a total of $23K... while the ZERO that you're so obsessed about paying on the property settlement, added to your offer of $600 for 12 years, is more like $86K!

I don't know if the twists & turns & turning yourself into a pretzel over trying to get the current offer put together has put you in a position where it would be impossible for you to negotiate out of it... but you should at least ASK your lawyer and make her give you the advice that you're paying for... and AFTER you get her advice, figure out whether your way is better in the long run or whether the law would have given you a better result in the long run.

If you end up settling with your stbx for whatever is standard practice in your county, no one is going to say you pulled dirty tricks and left your ex with nothing... if the law says that she gets very little becasue she SHOULD follow through with her rehab and get herself back to work, then there's no reason you should continue to support her illness... that's part of what "enabling" is all about... you supporting her to a point where she does not feel the motivation to resolve her issues...