"Real" Cost of Alimony

pk2at · 2023-08-09T20:32:56+00:00

Alimony is not tax deductible, so you'll have to pay the $5500 from net. Check your county court forms on which income can be included/excluded for commission. IMHO if you pay $66K per year after tax, you'll be ruined for the alimony period, a much better suggestion is to take a sabbatical and when they try to impute your income, say your typical job only pays $100K

FUMoney · 2023-08-10T00:05:33+00:00

I am not kidding or joking when I say, you may need to look at marshaling and securing all your resources. Then moving to another country. Else you are looking at the possibility of true lifetime alimony. You literally will be a slave for the rest of your natural life, if lifetime alimony is awarded. You are going to need some really good advice and accurate projections concerning what your future looks like.

Electrical_Media_367 · 2023-08-10T00:22:53+00:00

My ex cheated and was only out of work for a couple of years when we were married, so alimony wasn’t even on the table. But jesus, how is someone supposed to survive while paying 40% of their gross income to another person?! So taxes and health insurance takes 40%, then she takes another 40%, and you’re left with 20% to live on? Your gross is $220k and you’re left with $45/year? That’s barely above minimum wage.

As others have said, if you don’t have kids, just leave the country.

Gattsama · 2023-08-10T00:54:26+00:00

Howdy, I'm in WA. In my case, together 17 years, married 12 years, no kids, she didn't work, I earn a lot. My annual income varied a lot because I worked a ton of extra shifts. I was imputed based on my last two years W2's. Was supposed to be 3 years, but I got 2020 waved as COVID was an exception and clearly abnormal year (work in hospital and worked a done extra that year).

Ultimately, she got 40% of my net base salary, ie did not count all the extra shifts. We negotiated this in mediation.

Per my attorney if we went to court can never predict what a judge would do 🤷‍♂️ My arguement was I shouldn't be forced to work extra, I don't want to work extra, and it is not safe to patients for me to work extra. But the norm is to imput me based on my W2's. So compromise was 40% of net base salary. That's also the maximum spousal support normally awarded. it could have been less with a judge as no kids, and she can (in fact, going forward must) work. She got 42mo or 3.5 years of support. The general rule of thumb in WA for a mod length marriage is 1 year of support for every 3-4 years of marriage. But again, a judge could do anything.

You need to talk to a local attorney to get a better idea of your options.

Aside - I am 'lucky' compared to a lot of guys here. No kids, spousal support is huge but I make enough to still live a great life after paying. And I was able to downgrade life and actually have more discretionary income post divorced then married (and far less responsibilities). I am still working extra, but far less; but to balance out how much I pay her and stack cash to pay her off early. Likely September 2024.

Adventurous_Rain_279 · 2023-08-10T00:26:35+00:00

You cant drop income. If you make it work, you need to be fired. Otherwise court will still put that 5500

Flashy_Yam967 · 2023-08-09T22:52:56+00:00

You'd be so better off getting fired and temporarily losing that income in order to significantly reduce your income in order to mitigate the alimony. You could be on the hook for 100k in alimony forever, if you say Colorado is 40 percent.

You be better off getting a grand larceny charge, doing months jail and losing your job than that much alimony for rest of your working life.

Lean_BigDaddy · 2023-08-10T05:30:42+00:00

I don’t know for sure about commissions, but my ex and her lawyer kept trying to submit a lower income for her when her paystubs showed a long average of 25% of pay in tips, and my attorney held their proverbial feet to the fire (married over 20 and in Colorado, and she was SAHM for a long time), I am guessing commissions do count.

Her lawyer threatened to fight for lifetime, but we said “bring it”! She never wanted to go to court and I got 10 years of alimony down to 6 😊

I would gather as much information about what she has earned or is capable of earning and use that! Have you or her already filed, so you have an attorney?

Mangrove43 · 2023-08-10T00:14:37+00:00

Costa Rica buddy go now

Dangerous_Item_6879 · 2023-08-10T00:30:34+00:00

You are approaching “cheaper to keep her territory”.

How old are your kids?

AirSailer · 2023-08-10T12:16:23+00:00

What is your actual take-home pay right now, including base and commission?

TastyWheat67 · 2023-08-10T14:27:12+00:00

If you are calculating the potential alimony from "the online alimony calculator" for your state, it doesn't mean anything. My divorce lawyer told me this.

WA state alimony calculator said I should get $5k per month for life, but, it basically comes down to whatever you and your lawyer can negotiate. I wound up getting $2k per month for 1 year, for a 29 year marriage and she made over $300k. Like buying a car, it's really about the entire "deal" than the "price".

Title	"Real" Cost of Alimony
Author	No_Researcher6055
Upvotes	18
Comments	38
Date	August 9, 2023 7:55 PM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/15mpn2n/real_cost_of_alimony/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/real-cost-of-alimony.1227936 https://theredarchive.com/post/1227936

Comments