Challenging Alimony Laws
by The other day I heard somebody say if they ever left their husband it would cost him a fortune to keep her and her kids happy in the lifestyle they had grown accustomed. I began to think about the wrongness of this comment.
Look how many people grow up wealthy and then find themselves in different circumstances. Nobody makes sure they continue to live in the lifestyle they were accustomed too. Look how many people grow up in poverty, (with the exception of the caste system in India) nobody says they must remain in that lifestyle because they have grown accustomed to it.
Even the government doesn’t follow the rule of keeping people in the lifestyle they are accustomed to. When a person loses their job, having paid into employment insurance, the government only gives them a fraction (usually about 60%) of what their wage was. A far cry from what a person was accustomed to. If they do not qualify for this payment they get basic welfare.
Supposing an employer is making cuts, nobody forces the employer to keep the employee in the lifestyle they have grown accustomed to.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brookenovak/337889974/
See where this is going?
When a divorce happens, and one person is making an extremely high wage, they are often forced to pay out huge alimony payments to their partner, and children, “to keep them in the lifestyle they have grown accustomed to”. In the cases of celebrities and some athletes this can be millions of dollars.
As such I would just love to see a lawyer challenge this. I would just love to see a lawyer argue the point that even the government does not honor keeping people in the lifestyle they were accustomed to. I would love to see a lawyer argue this and WIN!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairedancer/273214248/
As I am a female it might seem a bit confusing why I would not argue in support of huge alimony payments, as typically it is the women getting the kids and the payments. I can assure you I have never been divorced, but I was widowed. When my husband died we had no insurance, no big financial gain, no savings. I was still paying a mortgage and raising a child. I went to work, part time, for minimum wage (viewing time with my daughter as more important than financial gain)… Eventually I got a small widows pension check, and orphan benefit. I cannot remember the exact total, but it was somewhere around $400 a month. For a few years my monthly income was less than a welfare parent with one child. But we got through it.
In some cases when one partner, typically the man, has to continue supporting his ex-wife and children he loses out, and he is not living the lifestyle he was accustomed to as a result. He sometimes is not even given the option of keeping the children when he is more financially able (granted finances are not the only concern) of raising them. Yet he is forced to pay sums of money to keep THEM in the lifestyle they have “grown accustomed”.
Are people not flexible? Come on, we need to teach responsibility, take actions for your own life. Why can’t people learn to live with less? I did! Yes you can live without a cell phone, cable television, and Internet. I challenge a lawyer to challenge the way alimony laws work, using the governments example.
Let us flip this around a bit too, why not challenge the laws on the other side, forcing people to be responsible for anyone whose lifestyle they are changing. Would a lawyer be so brave as to challenge an employer (or the government) to continue paying a dismissed employee so they can continue living to the same standards they were accustomed to?
So, do we have any lawyers up for a challenge?
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Post Commentchellsy
On February 15, 2010 at 1:32 pm
very interesting article
Sourav
On February 15, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Good article… I agree with you with the exception what you said about cast system of India, actually I’m not sure what you wanted to say.
A good article though and very important points you have raised.
PR Mace
On February 15, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Good article with some interesting points. Glad I’m happy in my marriage. I had one divorce and that was enough.
Karen Gross
On February 16, 2010 at 1:02 am
The people who profit the most from divorce are the lawyers.
A friend of mine was having trouble making ends meet when she was a single parent. She was advised by an IE job counselor to go on welfare – she would be better off financially.
Darla Cooke
On February 16, 2010 at 9:26 am
Interesting article.
sambhafusia
On February 16, 2010 at 9:47 am
excellent share…interesting stuff, well written…keep it up..
Mark Gordon Brown
On February 16, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Maybe a change in laws would cut down on all the golddiggers, both male and female, who play with the emotions of another to get an alimony check.
Ruby Hawk
On February 16, 2010 at 6:49 pm
I was divorced. Our children were grown and I did not ask for any alimony. We had raised the children and were retired. I didn’t feel he owed me anything. I know most women don’t feel that way but I do. If I had children I would expect support for them.
CA Johnson
On February 16, 2010 at 9:05 pm
This is very interesting. I am a woman who has never been divorced, but I also think it is unfair to have to pay huge amount of alimony because a person was used to a certain lifestyle. Celebrities do this all of the time and it is not right.
qasimdharamsy
On February 17, 2010 at 11:18 am
Great Post…well written….