[quote=6packscaredy]The courts can force a divorced wage earner to work or be thrown in jail for contempt. It’s not slavery. It’s the way it works. The system…[/quote]
Which is why the system sucks and more men are realizing this everyday. So let’s take an example situation.
Both husband and wife are in their early 60s when they divorce. They have been married 20 years, wife was stay at home for the last 20 years. Both had planned to retire between 60 and 65. Now, say the marital assets are around $300,000, each gets $150k.
Wife decides to take the $150k and retire, Husband wishes to do the same. So, are you telling me that the wife can do this and not only does she get to retire but a court will force the husband to continue busting his ass for the next 10, 15 or 20 years to pay her alimony while she is sipping margaritas in Cancun? Are you f-cking kidding me??
A lot is made about the sacrifices a woman makes by giving up her career and maintaining the household but what is often not said is that many women enjoy a much upgraded lifestyle throughout the marriage that they would never have access to on their own, they get a marital settlement that puts them way ahead of the savings they would’ve achieved on their own and that is not enough for them? They still want to continue getting support?
I can understand alimony in very limited cases where the wife will be jobless and destitute, but if there are substantial marital assets and the wife is healthy then not a cent of alimony needs to be awarded regardless of the length of the marriage.
Giving alimony to someone who gets $150-200k cash in a marital settlement is obscene, many people don’t even have that kind of money period!
Which is why I like the system in Texas – it’s a very anti-alimony state. Alimony in Texas is extremely hard to get in the first place… and IF a decision about alimony is made it is mandated by law that alimony cannot exceed 3 years. That is the absolute maximum. Love it!
Nobody wants to divorce and not be able to move on with their life or worse get into a situation of indentured servitude where some judge says you HAVE to work or will be thrown in jail… that is an extremely bad situation to find yourself in and it’s a risk only a fool would take.
