Personal Finance Planning and Divorce: Guest Post
March 19, 2008 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
We’ve been doing a special Q&A series with personal finance planning expert Linda Lietz. Today she answers a question about personal finance planning and divorce:
Q. I have been working for most of my 12 year marriage. Five years ago I received a raise, and am now responsible for earning about 60% of the family income. My husband contributes the rest. If I divorce my husband, will I have to pay him alimony?
A. That could be a possibility, but doesn’t sound likely. Alimony, which is also known as spousal maintenance, is blind to gender. It’s based on two factors in most states: the need of one spouse and the ability of the other spouse to pay. Since most families pretty much use all their combined earnings between what they spend and what they save, both of spouses need to make some adjustments when they set up separate households. When the separate households have incomes that are comparable, then alimony might not be an issue. If both households can manage on what they each make, then alimony isn’t usually an issue. If both households are going to have to make downward lifestyle adjustments, it’s also unlikely alimony will be an issue unless one spouse makes quite a bit more than the other.
Also, in a marriage of 12 years, the length of time alimony is paid could vary. In some states, 12 years is considered a pretty long marriage. In others, a marriage needs to be around for 20 years to be considered long term. So how long alimony is paid depends on how long the court system considers the marriage to be relative to that court system’s standards.
If there are children, child support will be assumed to be an issue in most cases. In a situation like yours, if the kids spend an equal amount of time with you and with your father, you would probably owe him child support. The same would be true if they spent most of their time at Dad’s house. If the kids spend most of their time with you, their dad will probably pay child support, even though you make more money.
If you’re considering divorce, make an appointment with a financial professional that works in the divorce arena. They’ll know what the range of outcomes is in your location.
Other posts in this series:
