Jan 01, 2015

Alimony is very involved and tricky to define. It really should be customized by each case and situation at hand. Laws are being rewritten for alimony reform and many want get rid of permanent alimony all together. 

Massachusetts’s alimony reform reads that the dependent spouse will receive alimony for ten and a half years if the marriage lasted 15 years. As other states start to make these changes, it could easily be seen all across the country.

Pros for Permanent Alimony

In the 50’s and 60’s the wife would stay at home, support their husband’s career and take care of the house and children. They gave up the chance of developing their own career in sacrifice for their family.

It is understandable why after raising children for 18 years and supporting their spouse, permanent alimony would be appropriate. This makes the stay at home spouse dependent financially on the working spouse.

Should a spouse that stays at home be financially penalized for what both spouses had decided to do for the family, and then not be able to earn a comparable salary after a divorce? The spouse that chose to keep their career will work until they retire, and when that happens, that spouse will draw from their retirement account for the rest of their life. 

Cons for Permanent Alimony

Those against Permanent Alimony state they want it limited because men and women’s roles have changed in marriages. They also say that now days a woman is more likely to go to college and start their own career before deciding to get married. This makes both spouses have viable incomes on their own without being dependent on the breadwinner.

Staying at Home

In this day in age it is becoming more and more popular for the husband to stay home and take on this domestic role. This is also usually a joint decision. Of course, they are also sacrificing their own career for the family and support their wife’s career.

Either way, the new laws are too broad to cover all marriages in regards to Permanent Alimony and they need to be made as fair as possible.