Will I have to pay my husband alimony if we divorce?

Question

We have been married for three years. He was laid off about a month before the wedding and has not been able to find a job since. He has been trying to qualify for Social Security disabilty (sleep apnea and fibromyalgia) but was turned down. Our marriage is on shaky ground right now. He won't go to marriage counseling - I have been going in by myself. I don't make a lot of money - just enough to cover the bills and save a little bit - definitely not enough to support two households. Anyone know if I will have to pay him alimony?

Answer 1

Number one: DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. If you can get him to refuse, in writing, to go to marital counseling, that's important. It's part of showing that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" and he won't work to fix it. Like, in an email or something. Get an attorney's advice about what's admissable, but being able to prove that in court could be key.

Do y'all have children together? It doesn't sound like it.

Here, at least (in Georgia), alimony awards are rare for "normal" people, and then they're almost always for the parent who gets the kids who wasn't working BECAUSE he or she was the primary childcare provider. NOT just because some guy didn't get a job. Or they're used as a punitive device in the rare for-cause divorce case, especially when there's a big difference in the two people's incomes or potential incomes. In some cases, it's a quid-pro-quo thing, like where the wife worked to put her husband through school and he became a doctor, and now the judge is making the husband support the wife while she finishes her education, too.

Since your husband knows you don't have much anyway, do you really think he's going to come after you?

I'm not a lawyer, of course, but I'd talk to a lawyer to see what would happen if I just moved out, or kicked him out. Keep an eye on him and see if he hooks up with somebody else to live off of, then file for divorce for cause (adultery). Then you could be sure you wouldn't have to support him.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Alimony can be awarded in the case of need (where the woman has little or no work skills) or it can be awarded to keep the woman in the lifestyle she has become accustomed to during the marriage (and before the libbers or father's rights groups start screaming, judges have begun to award alimony to men when the woman has been the primary provider). If your ex is a successful business man and your alimony was awarded for life, the judge will not reduce or cancel it just because your ex-husband doesn't want to pay for it any longer. Nor, will your support be canceled or reduced because you haven't tried to get work or done something about being retrained. That alimony was awarded for life so unless you get married or another man is supporting you, you are entitled to that alimony. Finally, if as another poster has said, divorce decrees can be modified afterward, then why don't you have your lawyer request an increase in your alimony payments. After all, if it valid for the man to ask that they be reduced because he feels you are making more money after the divorce, then it should be just as valid that you are entitled to ask that it be increased because he has more money after the divorce was made final. Take care.

Answer 3

It would depend on the type of divorce. If you have grounds for divorce such as adultery, physical cruelty, or marital misconduct then you don't owe him a dime. If you have been guilty of these things, he may have a case. It varies from state to state, so you need to consult a divorce attorney. You may be able to agree to a divorce where neither spouse owes the other anything. There are cures for sleep apnea and medicine to help fibromyalgia. Many people with worse maladies work and provide for themselves and their families, Your husband may be too lazy to work. Make sure you get a good divorce lawyer and demand that you won't have to pay him alimony. He is trying to get the easy way out by letting the government take care of him. He sounds like a lazy bum.

Answer 4

First off, I'm not an expert. I think the other person has to try to get alimony, it's not automatic. However, here in Ontario anyways, each spouse is entitled to half of whatever assets there are. So, if you have been putting money away, I'd move it to somewhere that isn't connected to your name ie: put it in a GIC or some sort of fund in, say, your mother's name. That way I think it can't be touched by the other party. I think alimony is based on income, and if you make lots and he makes none, he may be able to try to get it from you.

Personally I have a health problem, but I work two jobs so I have no sympathy for someone who "can't find a job", but that's just my opinion. Good luck.

Answer 5

It really depends on how long you have been together. If more then 5 years there is a possibility if more then 10 you have been the sole bread winner then 99% chance. This is why guys hate paying it's scarry thing. I had to with my second husband and after I got married again I told my husband I wanted a prenup saying that if he works and we get divorced I don't want anything becuase I understand how hard it is to pay alimony. We got divorced 12 years later and no one paid anything. We are still good friends.

Answer 6

Usually in your case you would not have to pay alimony because you are simple not rich and famous. But as always check with an attorney to make sure. Now in the divorce you can simply not state alimony and if your spouse is in agreement then you want have to. But since he is not working he will probably look for you to continue to take care of him. Check with a lawyer if you decide to go the divorce route.

Answer 7

It depends on the state and on the other circumstance in the dissolution of the marriage. It looks like you are the supporting spouse for the whole term of the marriage, so it is very possible, but you have only been married for three years, so it will not be a long period of time you would have to pay it. If it gets ugly though, and you both gets lawyers, he can probably make you pay most if not all of his legal expenses.

Answer 8

Under the formula, alimony is set at 30 percent of the higher-earning spouse's income, minus 20 percent of the lower-earning spouse's, as long as the recipient doesn't end up with more than 40 percent of the couple's combined income.


Assuming you make more than him. Then you have to compensate him the difference

Answer 9

If I'm not mistaken, he has to request alimony before he can get it. It all really henges on what state you live in. In Ohio the wife seldom has to pay anything. All in all, you shouldn't have to worry about that. You really need to worry what he''s going to get in a divorce. Most states allow 50% split of everything in the marriage.

By the way, there are plenty of jobs out there and there is no reason he can't get one. I have a number of disabilities one being sleep apnea and now congestive heart failure but it doesn't stop me from working. Sounds to me like he's lazy and wants to be given everything in his life or in other words, a welfare loafer.

Answer 10

If you did, it would depend upon how much you are making and may even vary state to state. start now though to make a list of your bills and expenses. he may find a job pretty fast when he has to in order to get by. If you decide to consider divorce I think most attorneys will at least talk to you and give you some idea as far as alimony.