What does an alimony judgment look like typically in my case?

kmag17 · 2024-12-05T18:15:46+00:00

Dude, Your situation is very similar to mine. We live in WV as well but thankfully we don’t have kids. She has a masters degree and could be making more money as a Mental Health Therapist, however she is too lazy. I thought we were making the same amount of money turns out I actually make double than what she makes. Rather than going to an attorney I have agreed to keep her on my health insurance for 1 year, give her half of my savings and half of my 401k. I agreed to this so we don’t have to go through the expenses of an attorney where she claims they will make me help pay down her CC debt along with her student loans. Not sure how true that last part is but whatever can get her packed up and the fuck out of the house the better off I will be. Still debating on whether or not to seek some legal advice, which I’m sure I will eventually have to.

pk2at · 2024-12-04T18:25:03+00:00

One strategy you can try. Take a sabbatical from your current job, tell the court you have no income and cannot get a similar paying job. Let the judge impute your income from prior three years AND the knowledge you are currently unemployed. Ask the judge to impute HER income. You need to make the case that her imputed income is greater than yours. Alimony will be lowest if this works

BatGuano52 · 2024-12-04T09:22:18+00:00

Look into whether you can get an imputed income assigned to her.

That means that she is capable of earning more, the court will use a higher income to compute her alimony (and child support if you have I.

Also, if you have the flexibility and the cash or a 401(k) you can use, you may be able to buy her out or buy her alimony down (lump sum payment and an end date).

FUMoney · 2024-12-04T07:53:50+00:00

>> worked as a social worker for the few years at the beginning of our 18 year marriage.

If in the United States: a “good“ state, likely six to ten years of alimony. A “bad” state, lifetime alimony. Could be on the hook until you retire, or worse, until you die, she dies, or she formally remarries. Strong possibility of lifetime alimony in bad state, as ten years of marriage could be enough to impose an “lifetime” obligation, and you are nearing double. “Lifetime” is jurisdiction-specific, varies greatly.

Back-of-the-envelope calc is 40% of your net monthly income, minus 50% of the ex-spouse’s net income, i.e. spouse‘s income offset. This will be very jurisdiction-specific and will have either calculators or criteria the court follows.

For example, if you make $100k, and ex-spouse makes $50k, a reasonable estimate is $15,000 in alimony per year, $1,250 per month. Worse, taxes will complicate the calculation and you will almost certainly be responsible to pay taxes on the alimony payments you make, whereas ex-spouse will receive alimony payments tax-free. I’d be focused on the tax treatment right from the jump.

You will have three areas to focus on: alimony length (biggest issue), alimony amount (next in importance), and tax treatment and offsets (contentious issue).

Title	What does an alimony judgment look like typically in my case?
Author	DudeforRighteousness
Upvotes	4
Comments	11
Date	December 4, 2024 7:15 AM UTC (1 year ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/1h6afgj/what_does_an_alimony_judgment_look_like_typically/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/what-does-an-alimony-judgment-look-like-typically.1537625 https://theredarchive.com/post/1537625

Comments