I can see extended alimony in a SAHM/D situation. But the limit should be in the 20/SS payment range.

If you are an able adult -- you are responsible for your upkeep. I don't want to let the straying partner off the hook, but the wheels have to come off the gravy train.

I don't want to let the straying partner off the hook

Women cheat almost as often as men - there is no gaurentee that a man paying alimony was the one having the affair

Also, if a man is still required to provide finacially for a woman, why shouldnt she be required to provide labor and sex?

If she died and they found a bloody glove, I'd vote not guilty by reason of defense of property in the course of a robbery.

"Even Powerball Winnings End After 20 Years"

No, they don't. (The Powerball annuity ends 29 years after the first payment.)

I've known a few people to get alimony, but it was never set for more than five years by the courts.

I'm not understanding how the ex-wife in the article can go after new wife's money. Since the husband was the one ordered to pay the alimony it should be based off his income alone when they figure it, not the new wife's earnings and income. Or is, perhaps, husband hiding income and funneling it into savings for the kid to try to hide it? It doesn't say. If that's the case, I can see it being taken into account in the court proceedings, but not for any other reason.

Even durational alimony is ridiculous in some cases. My ex wife remarried three days after the final judgment was filed (I'll let that speak for itself). Not only do I pay $1600 in child support monthly (which I do not take issue with), but I pay $600 in durational alimony for the next 110 months, and she gets fifty percent of my retirement for 112 months upon my date of retirement. My penalty (excluding child support) for marrying the most toxic person in the history of the world: $190,400. To someone already remarried, with yet another kid on the way, a house in the Florida panhandle, five minutes from the beach, a brand new SUV. Paid out by an E6 with 14 years time in service, living in a two bedroom apartment in central Missouri.

Sometimes, words just fail me.

Not trying to one-up anyone. I do believe the whole issue is absurd and judges need to do these things case-by-case, lest people like me are staring down the barrel of a life full of work from start to finish, and poverty in my thirties.

Yes, it sucks, but the new wife new what the situation was when she married the guy.

There are situations in which lifelong alimony makes sense.

If a couple has spent 20 or 30 years together, their finances are intertwined in ways that are impossible to separate. If she was a SAHM, then they had an agreement in which she contributed 50% in the form of unpaid labor. His career benefited from not having to take time off for things like childcare, and he will continue to reap the benefits of her labor for the rest of his life. Her income potential, on the other hand, will never recover. She should benefit from the work she put into their lives, but not from his unrelated gains (like a second wife's income).

Ultimately, when you ask the court to sort out your failed love life, things are going to get messy. Someone once told me that the best mediations are where everyone feels like they got screwed.

Again, I am being serious, if a man is required to support his ex finacially why shouldnt she be required to support him with labor around his house and sex for the same amount of time?

Because sex contracts are illegal.

So is slavery, hasnt stopped people from practicing it via alimnony

No life long alimony unless there are special circumstances.

Having said that, I gave up a career to be a SAHM for a decade. In that time, I also helped his career by doing research, proof reading, etc. If we were to ever divorce, I feel he'd owe me for those years, since the things I did sure made his life a lot easier. So 10 years of alimony?

But I would never ask for alimony for 40 years or anything like that.

Unless he ran off with some 20 year old. All bets are off in that case.

And as an ex, you cannot go after your ex's current spouse's income for alimony. BUT you can for child support.

$90,000 per year for life, versus about $50 for a knife and some plastic sheeting, or $50k for a decent hitman if your squeemish. Hmmm......

Sure murder is wrong. But so is lifelong bondage.

For those that want payment from thier ex for all the stuff they did while married, how about paying the ex for all the stuff they did.

Being a SAHM is a quid pro quo arrangement. If you don't like the arrangement, don't do it. You want compensation for what you "sacrificed" by staying at home? Ok, no problem. Now pony up for all the crap that was provided for you by your ex. You know, rent, utilities, insurance, clothing, and all the rest. Not everyone gets to hang out and watch Oprah, or Tool Time for the SAHD.

Fair is fair right?

So, MonicaP, what would our boy have done if he was NEVER married?

prolly died of scurvey or something.

'cuz everyone knows that unmarried men can't do all those things that sahm's do to make their life work, and THAT is why you have to pay alimony, right? Because she provided things materially that he would NOT have done anyway.

You have just succinctly explained why there is no good reason to ever marry for men. No matter what you do, you will be made to pay.

There's a case in MA where the divorce has been finalized for over 20 years. The wife has now fallen on hard times and has no retirement savings. She has petioned the court to now grant her alimony paid for by her exhusbands savings. Most commentary on the case seems to believe that she will win