Spousal support advice - California

vcrsquare · 2024-04-12T19:25:58+00:00

The court denied temporary spousal support because she has no need. Dissomaster is 0. So that was a relief.The income delta is mostly RSU

JustTheSpecsPlease · 2024-04-12T18:40:33+00:00

Prepare yourself, and consult an attorney.

The courts are going to say they aim to maintain the "Marital standard of living," and an awful lot of that comes from your yearly income.

Hopefully you both earn similarly and the courts decide to pay attention to that. Still, the lawyers wouldn't get paid if it were that simple, so...

Get your head around the numbers.

Your attorney can likely access "dissomaster" -- a software tool the courts use to divide assets and set alimony in a divorce. Get him/her to run the numbers and prepare accordingly. From what I've seen, the judges in family court like to think as little as possible, if at all, and tend to just use the dissomaster numbers in their final judgments. It's said they have discretion, but whatever. Maybe the assault you mention factors into their discretion.

If you have stock options, restricted stocks, or any other asset you obtained and vested in during the marriage, those are going to count as well.

Gavron warnings, while they feel good in the trial, are useless. Petitions for reductions in support for changed circumstances after the initial divorce seem to fall on deaf ears, and can open you up to further payments now and in the future.

Get your lawyer to build a strategy for making the court see that your marriage was financed through mutual effort and contribution. Know what the dissomaster numbers are so you're not surprised in court if/when the judge simply recites the things in front of them.

Be ready for all of your assets to get hit, unless you owned them before the marriage.

Best of luck.

EnvironmentalAd3558 · 2024-04-12T16:21:00+00:00

If she is a high earner then why does she need support from you?

What stops you from taking a sabbatical for a year or two? Or changing the type of work you do or doing it at a different location where you have to take a pay cut.

Why does she still get to control how you work, the type of work or the location where you work? You should have these choices now.

Where is her need for alimony?

These are the things that should also be considered.

If you have been working 60 hours a week. Cut back to 40. Consider moving to a more favorable state like Texas or even Arizona.

Alimony should not be treated like CS where it is your duty to support until they become adults. For CS the court will impute income to you because you should be supporting your minor children.

CaliDude75 · 2024-04-12T14:09:25+00:00

This is why my proposal was deliberately generous. Didn’t want it picked apart by my ex or a judge. Gave her the house and a modest lump sum cash settlement.

DarkEnergy67 · 2024-04-12T13:44:56+00:00

What I find amazing is that there is never discussion about “alternative “ ways of spousal support removal.

dday_throwaway3 · 2024-04-12T12:26:59+00:00

Marriages over 10 years in CA means it's considered a long term marriage, and there will be no set termination date for spousal support. You need to get familiar with the Gavron Warning and Richmond Order. It's going to be a long, grindy process to terminate SS.

One tactic you can use to avoid paying permanent spousal support is to pay her a lump sum. Typically that's going to be about 60% of what she would normally get if you paid monthly. The advantage to her is that she gets a large cash pile to reboot her life, buy a house, etc. It's also guaranteed money for her if you shed your mortal coil, and if there's a Mr. Wonderful in her life then remarriage will also terminate spousal support.

Gattsama · 2024-04-12T11:17:43+00:00

CA is one of the worst states to get divorced in. You need to talk to a local attorney. A marriage of > 10yrs in CA ending in divorce is potentially horrible for you has the higher earning spousal. The courts do NOT care about the reasons for the divorce, ie no fault.

She could have cheated on you, cucked you and kids with a different man that she claimed were yours, a drug addiction, etc ... and it essentially plays no part in the divorce.

Call a few attorneys, pick one cmyou can afford and like, learn what would be typical for your situation and proceed from there. With luck your STBX is willing to agree to less than her 'full legally entitled assets.' But I would not count on that.

Good luck, and stay safe out there...

Title	Spousal support advice - California
Author	vcrsquare
Upvotes	3
Comments	8
Date	April 12, 2024 10:46 AM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/1c260j5/spousal_support_advice_california/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/spousal-support-advice-california.1514839 https://theredarchive.com/post/1514839

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