alimony

i am 43 years old, and i live in minnesota. i have been married for 17 years. my husbnd and i have tred conseling...but have decided mutually, to go our own way. we will be going thru a nofault divorce. we have a house together, and 2 boys. i would say that we are very equal in what we have contribued to this marriage. i do make more money than he does by about 10,000 a year. i want to keep the house, and he is going to be movng into an apartment. i believe he will have to pay child support, which he wants to anyways, but my question is about alimony/spousal support. we havnt researched it, but will he still have to pay me alimony/spousal support even though i do make a substantial ammount more than he does per year? also, is it in my best interest to just buy him out of the house...i`m not too sure what is best in that category. thanks for your time, samantha

Samantha,

My friend has just gone through a divorce in a situation similar to yours and they came out the other end reasonably happy that they had resolved everything in an amicable way.

In their case, they agreed that although the husband would pay child support, he would not pay spousal support. Instead, he signed over his rights to the marital home. I believe this is called a "Spousal Maintenance Buy-Out".

Obviously, each case is different and you should consult a Lawyer. However, the more you two can agree between yourselves - perhaps with the help of a mediator, the less acrimonious things are likely to get and that can only be a good thing, not just for you, but for your children.