Sam, I think you've forgotten that the net changes when there's $1400 deducted for alimony because that's a before-tax deduction. Alimony is taxed to the recipient, not the payer, so he gets back a huge refund at the end of the year (or adjusts his withholding through the year to account for it) and that makes a huge difference.

But even with your calculations, the NCP ends up with a bigger net take-home than the CP who has been staying at home & home-schooling his child for all these years. He's simply wrong to think he can change that at age 16 for the kid.

Cheeps, in our state, you'd probably get about $1800 for 5 to 8.5 years. The length of time is 30-50% of the length of the marriage, and teh amount is the difference. This amount would be your income in the child support formula, and his income would be his 7083 per month MINUS this amount, and then the other items would be plugged into the formula accordingly.

What is this acrage that you're "giving" to him? Is it marital property? Why would you want to give it to him? If it's marital property, split it 50-50, if it's not, then keep it. That part of this shouldn't be that tough to figure out. Are you getting something additional in property settlement to offset the acreage that you're giving to him?

Don't offer to give this to him if he doesn't deserve it. Take the value of it and consider it your alimony if you want, but don't just hand him something in one area of the settlement if he's not doing right by you in all other areas. I assume that land has value. You're asking for $67,000 total in alimony. Is the land worth that much? If so, then keep the land & dont' ask for ANY alimony! Why in the world would you give that bird in the hand away for the promise of a payment of $67K over the next 4 years? On the receiving end of alimony, if you are able to be frugal & manage money, it's always better to get the equivelent of a lump sum settlement and manage it yourself, rather than trust him to be able to continue to pay your monthly payments for the next 48 months! Let alone... you'll have to pay taxes on the alimony but not on a lump sum settlement.

Yes, you may have to SELL the acreage to get the value out of it, but if you can get an accurate appraisal (fair market value being CLOSE to what you will get out of an actual sale), then great!