In my divorce, I shuddered at the thought of how much money my lawyer was asking me to pay. Here, alimony is not automatic, and I was told that our judge rarely gives it since she worked her way through law school and her career, so she felt other women could work too.

But then he ran the numbers and showed me that my net paycheck would not be as bad as I thought, so we used it as a bargaining chip to keep her away from other things. And it worked.

With the tax deduction gone I see men in areas without automatic alimony no longer using it as a bargaining chip. This may result in women no longer getting the cash and prizes they were expecting. But it also may result in more divorces going to trial to fight for what the vagina thinks it deserves. More than 90% of divorces never go to trial.

The best advice is to never get married. But if you are married, find out from a lawyer how your local courts typically act. If they are unreasonable, move to a different area before you file.