My mother-in-law has been estranged from her husband for 32 years (both never bothered to get a divorce). Now he is approaching retirement and just served her with divorce papers because he doesn't want her to get any of his pension money. They haven't shared a home in 32 years, he never paid any child support or alimony. He just left.
Is she going to get part of his pension? Won't the courts look at the fact that they haven't lived together since 1975? I can't see how a judge can honestly reward her any money?
2007-04-04 02:41:30 · 19 answers · asked by Kimmy 4 in Family & Relationships ➔ Marriage & Divorce
The law decides what money can be awarded, not who 'honestly' deserves money, who's the better person, who was an ****** in the marriage, etc. Both never bothered to get a divorce - what you mean is that your father-in-law never filed for divorce. He probably thought he was getting off easy since he didn't pay child support or alimony.
He's serving her divorce papers now (after 32 years) - what timing! I don't even want to know how much money he has saved for retirement - or how much she has. It's going to be decided by the laws on the books (marriage is a contract, did he forget that?)
He didn't pay child support . He didn't have to because they were still married and child support is a divorce issue - he made his marriage 'work' for him in that sense and now he wants to fight how it might 'work' for her? He sounds like a jerk but then again, the law is not about who's a jerk and who's not.
It sounds like she had the financial responsibility of raising your husband. I hope she has a good lawyer - which is going to be her strength when she has to deal with her 'husband'.
2007-04-04 03:00:45 · answer #1 · answered by kathyw 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In most States I have lived in, a divorce is settled by halfing everything in the marriage. She can (and probably will) get half of his pension and any retirement plan he has. Note on retirement plan, he may be required to give her half "up front" even though he hasn't drawn it yet. On the other hand, if she owns the house she is living in, she may have to split that also. Since they were married over 10 years, she is entitled to half the amount of Social Security he will draw. This will not affect his checks, it is something SS does.
2007-04-04 10:26:27 · answer #2 · answered by sensible_man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are still legally married and she would be entitled to his pension and any thing else like 401k and IRA's
Your father in law should have gotten a divorce sooner and this wouldn't have been an issue.
A smart judge will look at him and ask why did it 32 years for him to file, a judge is going to see through what he is now trying to do.
2007-04-04 09:54:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are married regardless of where they live. Depending on the state she may get half. HE should have divorced her a long time ago instead of waiting to retirement time to get the divorce so she won't get money. It's not a good look for him to do that right now
2007-04-04 09:47:29 · answer #4 · answered by Cutie Pie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That can depend on a lot of factors. If she has been any kind of a benefit to him or he her, like a deduction on taxes or she has used his insurance. If the judge decides that in order for her to maintain her quality of life after the divorce, the judge may very well award her a portion of the pension.
2007-04-04 09:59:14 · answer #5 · answered by Suthern R 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
So if I am reading between the lines correctly this man left and never supported his wife or child/children and you are wondering if 32 years after she did it all on her own should he have to have some responsibility?
YES!!! Just because he walked away and disregarded the vows that he took did not remove his responsibility to his family. Sorry that he doesn't want to retire and have to pony up his rightful responsible share of his families upbringing but that should have been going on all along!!
2007-04-04 09:57:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they had children together then she should get every damn cent of his pension and then some! Forced to raise children alone, without intellectual, emotional, or financial support?
Sounds like losing his pension would be getting off cheap! I'd sue his sorry @$$ for all it was worth, and according the court I'd be entitled.
2007-04-04 09:47:43 · answer #7 · answered by ? 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because they were still legally married, she will be entitled to half his pension.....he should have gotten the divorce 32 yrs ago
2007-04-04 10:27:44 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My father in law is getting a divorce from a woman he hasn't lived with in 10 years and she is getting a huge chuck of his money. I wouldn't find this wrong if he had kids with her but they never did. Seeing that your mother in law had kids for this man I think she should get what is rightfully hers. She raised their kids with no child support help.... I wish her luck!
2007-04-04 10:32:33 · answer #9 · answered by Valentina 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the state they live in and if they legally seperated if there is no court document showing they legally seperated she could get the money and I believe she should because he never paid child support for his kids. I hope she wins
2007-04-05 09:41:53 · answer #10 · answered by bbinqueens33 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋