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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I get $13,000 a month. Married 23 years. I worked part time. [/quote]
These are exactly the kinds of unjust and offensive awards that modern alimony reforms are eliminating. Unless you are severely disabled, there is absolutely zero reason that you don’t have a fulltime job. [/quote]

I said I worked part time while married. [/quote]
And now you work full time? And why exactly do you deserve $156K/year from a former spouse?[/quote]

If she is getting $156K after tax from her ex, he is making significant money.  For 23 years, do you think she did nothing to contribute to his financial success at work?  [/quote]

Explain how her contributions were so extraordinary that now, and for who knows how many years more, he must continue working an obviously stressful demanding job (one that previously required massive support from his ex-wife, but now he somehow is expected to make do without).  Meanwhile she can sit home eating snacks and cashing his checks?

Sorry but this is a perversion and we should all be glad these archaic laws are being reformed, state by state, across the country[/quote]

Because for 23 years, she supported him in the background.  She may have been a SAHM or had the lower paying, more flexible job.  At the time, there was an inherent agreement that both people were working towards the common goal.  Once they got to retirement and old age, they would be able to join the fruits of their labor.

Now, as they approach retirement, he has all the money.  She has not been on the fast track and perhaps her skills are not what they could be.  Perhaps it would have been better during the marriage if she asked for $100K/yr to invest.  Then, today, there wouldn't be the need for alimony.

I don't agree with alimony.  But I also don't agree that a married person is successful on their own.  They have to take of those who took care of them.  Perhaps in lieu of monthly alimony, there could be a one time lump sum payment that would acknowledge her contributions to the marriage for 23 yrs.[/quote]

No, he does NOT have all of the retirement funds accrued during the marriage. Assets were split as part of the normal divorce settlement. So she’s already been fairly rewarded for any wealth built during the marriage.

Their joint Retirement funds are not the issue here. The issue is an ongoing expectation that he must still work a stressful high paying job that apparently he could only do because of her “support and contributions” but somehow now he must keep doing that job WITHOUT her support? How is that even possible, I mean you just said he can’t be successful on his own?

If he is compelled by the courts to work a full time stressful job, so must the court force HER to work a full time stressful job.[/quote]

The idea behind settlements like this is that she has a right to some percentage of his future earning potential.

Sometimes it’s easier to see why - if he started a business that took off during the marriage and she helped out in the background without being formally employed by said business.

Or alternatively if she back burnered her own career to take care of hearth and home while his career took off. She helped him achieve that success and deserves a portion of it.

There are circumstances where it does make sense.[/quote]
Your entire premise here is that she too could be earning good money if only she'd not sacrificed her career for his. And in some specific cases, I can go along with that. Note however the exact purpose of such a settlement is to "boost" her salary upwards, from what she is actually earning, towards what she "should" be earning - had she not made the aforementioned sacrifices. This formula computes to $0 if she's not working at all: you can't say that her salary for doing nothing ($0/year) is any lower than it should be on account of her sacrifices for him. In other words, any alimony owed is proportional to how many hours she is working. If she doesn't work at all, she deserves no alimony.[/quote]

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