Alimony, as we’ve talked about before, is an imperative part of the divorce process for some. Mothers or fathers who chose to stay home with the kids, and give up a job, in exchange for their spouses flourishing in a career, should certainly not be left out to dry if a divorce comes. With the way alimony works in this day and age, there are systems in place to protect the homemaking spouse. But with proposed alimony reform on the table in many states, those systems could crumble. What would alimony reform mean to the once employed, but now stay-at-home devoted homemaker and parent?
Alimony Reform: A Proposed, and Potentially Problematic, Change
The way that alimony works today, is that it takes into account the ‘lost wages’ and contributions made on the home front which allowed for one spouse to make significant financial gain. Through this, you and your to-be former spouse will agree upon a lump sum, or monthly installment amount. Alimony, as it stands, tries to make sure that any properly contributing spouse can maintain their lifestyle for the most part. But, some proposed changes, if passed, could shake all of this up.
What’s Changing?
For starters, the changes could potentially be retroactive. This would mean that the changes can affect alimony agreements that already exist. The most problematic part of this is that the alimony aspect of your divorce settlement would face change. However every other aspect will stay the same. So, imagine you agreed on a larger alimony payment per month in exchange for giving up your home or your stake in the family business. When retroactive changes happen— you could lose those payments, but not regain anything you gave up in exchange for that.
Furthermore, alimony reform could potentially take into account that job you had way back before you decided to be the homemaker. That income can be taken into account and given a value which will deduct from the alimony payments. The spouse who will (or will not, depending on the reform) receive alimony has the chance to fight the ‘imputed income’. But, that spouse is left with the burden of proof to convince a judge that his/her ability to regain this type of job is gone.
Overall, Judicial Discretion Would Reduce
The goal of this bill is to, seemingly, take out a lot of guess work and discretion for the judges. In doing so, the alimony bill would set firmer guidelines and more overarching limitations about what their rulings can be. This would mean that for a judge to set a different type of agreement, or stray from the norm, they would have to detail it in writing. So, more reasonable or ranging alimony agreements would mean more work for the judge. So, the natural progression for them, is to handle it swiftly and easily.
While this is not the kind of reform we ever hope to hear about, do not panic quite yet. This reform is coming up in a few states but has not reached a national level of appeal yet. So, in the meantime— consider what these changes could potentially mean for you. Maybe you’re in a healthy marriage, considering divorce, or currently receiving alimony. No one expects divorce. But in the event that a divorce does occur— it’s important to understand where you go from here.