I need some advice. I am at the end of a long divorce. Fortunately there was no house or valuable property involved and my soon to be ex agreed to give me full custody of my son.
My soon to be ex is asking for $1645 of alimony a month for 9 years.
She went out and had an affair and had a child by another man.
I have full custody of my 15 year old son and I am paying his full tuition.
She is not paying any child support.
I was married for 15 years before we seperated.
My attorney advises me that I should make the best offer of alimony that I can up front and settle the case.
It does not seem fair that I should have to pay her alimony.
Also do they calculate alimony based on what was on your W2 form last year?
Or do they go by what you make on your pay stubs currently?
Alimony is something that simply has to be negotiated. If you can't work out an agreement amongst yourselves, the judge will decide for you. The judge as a lot of discretion in setting an award so it is usually in everyone's best interest to work something out and avoid the uncertainty of not knowing what a judge will do.
She's made the first move. Time for you to respond. You can suggest $0 but this is unrealistic if you were the breadwinner during the marriage. Common guideposts for alimony awards are 1/2 the duration of the marriage (7.5 years in your case) and 30% of net income.
In most states, the circumstances of the divorce do not play into the alimony award. If she does end up marrying this dude, your alimony obligation will be terminated.
I got those stats from my lawyer in a different time and place. There's also a 10 year threshold defining a long-term marriage to be accounted for. When taking a piece of income, one can work from gross, adjusted gross or net. The general idea is to spread the pain. If feasible, the supporter is motivated to seek employment and both parties experience a similar drop in their living standard.