Chapter 80: My Signature, My Licence
Oliver could argue about the money after it arrived; he could not sign for the work that earned it.
On Tuesday afternoon, both solicitors reopened the revised separation draft on a recorded conference screen.
The house, named bank accounts and joint savings now occupied the formal property schedule by themselves.
Publishing rights remained in the separate documents that had actually created, divided and licensed them.
Oliver's solicitor nevertheless requested a broad consent right over contracts producing income during the marital period.
That proposed wording would turn lawful financial disclosure into creative approval through the back door.
Saltmere's licence had been signed by me and North Quay under my own name.
Its narrow first-look obligations concerned my future independent proposals and North Quay, not Oliver's permission.
Money actually received under that contract could still enter a lawful later financial allocation discussion.
The financial discussion began after receipt; it did not precede authorship, creative delivery, acceptance or licence.
My solicitor replaced the proposed consent right with a distribution clause.
Each party would disclose relevant received income through the agreed financial process with supporting statements.
Any interim or final allocation of money would operate only on funds after receipt.
It would not alter any publishing licence, public authorship credit, manuscript control or delivery signature.
It would not give either spouse a signature on the other's creative agreement.
The clause named Saltmere only as an example of the procedural boundary, not as joint property.
It named existing old-book royalties as governed first by their current title schedules.
The shared pen-name licence remained subject to its own joint termination negotiation.
The optional final volume remained unaccepted and outside this financial clause.
Oliver's solicitor requested reciprocal wording for Larkspur income.
I accepted the reciprocity because the principle did not depend on who earned more.
Financial allocation could follow money without reaching backwards into creative control.
Both solicitors inserted the same protection for authorship and contractual permissions.
I approved the revised separation clause.
Oliver approved it through his solicitor without signing my publishing documents.
The version log recorded that no copyright conclusion had been made.
It also recorded that no spouse obtained approval over future delivery or publicity.
At 14:18, the legal draft changed to AGREED IN PRINCIPLE — FINANCIAL ALLOCATION ONLY.
My Saltmere contract remained exactly as signed on Friday.
Its advance instalment, reserve formula and first-look terms did not change.
The old six-book royalty schedules also remained 50/50.
Clarity did not create extra accessible cash.
The bank representative then joined the conference for the interim account instructions.
Either unresolved property expenditure required protection until both sides approved the category.
Oliver's solicitor formally requested dual authorisation on the jointly used account during the recorded session.
The bank confirmed that the request complied with the existing account mandate during a documented property dispute.
I could contest allocation later but could not bypass the bank procedure today.
The representative applied the restriction while both solicitors remained on the record.
Every outgoing payment above the ordinary household threshold now needed two approvals.
The restriction did not touch my personal account or North Quay's advance obligation.
It did make the balance we had discussed on Monday temporarily unavailable to either of us alone.
I declined to describe the bank hold as Oliver owning my manuscript.
It controlled shared cash, not the work, licence or author name.
At 15:02, the bank status changed to DUAL AUTHORISATION REQUIRED.
My moving deposit remained pending rather than rejected.
The bookseller-tour supplier's invoice remained scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Its payment account was the newly restricted joint account.
I could ask Oliver to approve a campaign serving only my new book.
I could not force him, mislabel the expense or move disputed funds around the restriction.
By nine tomorrow, the national tour materials would either be paid or cancelled.