Alimony for my millionaire wife?

[bradcrosley]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I'm contemplating a divorce, and my wife is worth approximately $1.5 million in separate property (family money she brought in her trust) She has never shared this money in any way (which I'm fine with) and she currently does not work. My income is over $250k a year, and my net worth is around $700k.

Setting aside the issue of division of joint property (I have no interest in her assets), afterwards, would a judge order alimony/spousal support from me to her in our situation? To me, alimony is temporary support so someone can "get back on their feet" not some sort of automatic entitlement. It almost seems like welfare for the wealthy for me to give my "richer" wife money simply because I work and she doesn't. She is college educated and healthy, she just chooses to be a stay at home wife. We've been married for about 15 years.

If she is entitled to alimony, what would be a reasonable number to expect.

thanks for the help

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I'm contemplating a divorce, and my wife is worth approximately $1.5 million in separate property (family money she brought in her trust) She has never shared this money in any way (which I'm fine with) and she currently does not work. My income is over $250k a year, and my net worth is around $700k.

Setting aside the issue of division of joint property (I have no interest in her assets), afterwards, would a judge order alimony/spousal support from me to her in our situation? To me, alimony is temporary support so someone can "get back on their feet" not some sort of automatic entitlement. It almost seems like welfare for the wealthy for me to give my "richer" wife money simply because I work and she doesn't. She is college educated and healthy, she just chooses to be a stay at home wife. We've been married for about 15 years.

If she is entitled to alimony, what would be a reasonable number to expect.

thanks for the help

She might think she is, and she may very well be. You need a divorce attorney.

 

[ecmst12]

Just because she does not work does not mean she has no income for purposes of support calculations.

It does not appear that you can't afford an attorney. Indeed it seems that NOT hiring one could end up costing you a lot more.

 

[bradcrosley]

She might think she is, and she may very well be. You need a divorce attorney.

If I actually go through with a divorce, I'm going to hire an attorney.

My purpose of asking on a forum like this was just to get some general information/anecdotes about a situation like this.

 

[Zigner]

If I actually go through with a divorce, I'm going to hire an attorney.

My purpose of asking on a forum like this was just to get some general information/anecdotes about a situation like this.

When there is over $2 million possibly at stake, the parties wouldn't normally turn to an internet forum. It's just a bit ... different.

 

[xylene]

(I have no interest in her assets)

Welcome to planet "CLUE SLAP"

Get over your cognitive dissonance.

One side of your mouth you are "I'm the big man and I don't want to touch her money"

and the other... "She chooses not to work... not that I wasn't TOTALLY fine with that for 15 years...."



You need to see a counselor and a lawyer. This is a big change, and you need to get over you old patterns.

You want to be divorced. Get there. In your head, heart and holding the hand of a great lawyer you can totally afford.

 

[bradcrosley]

Welcome to planet "CLUE SLAP"

Get over your cognitive dissonance.

One side of your mouth you are "I'm the big man and I don't want to touch her money"

and the other... "She chooses not to work... not that I wasn't TOTALLY fine with that for 15 years...."



You need to see a counselor and a lawyer. This is a big change, and you need to get over you old patterns.

You want to be divorced. Get there. In your head, heart and holding the hand of a great lawyer you can totally afford.

I was not "fine" with that at all, let's get over this idea that every stay at home wife is some sort of Martha Stewart. She was being lazy, plain and simple while I was working 60-80 hour weeks to make the living I am now.

She felt she didn't need to work because she was an entitled trust fund baby.

 

[bradcrosley]

The name of this forum is FREE ADVICE. And so the "free advice" is to hire a lawyer on a forum devoted to questions regarding alimony? Why even have this forum?

Thank you for the brilliance of your suggestions to hire a lawyer from so many posters, that would have never occurred to me. Obviously I'm not going to take on a divorce with no legal counsel with these type of assets on just advice I got off a random internet chat board. What I was looking for were anecdotes like, "In my divorce I had a similar situation and the resolution was X, but your outcome could be completely different."

If your only advice is "hire a lawyer" on a chat board devoted to questions about "Family law" maybe you should just leave?

Regardless, I'll see myself out, it's clear no one here has a clue about these type of issues anyway.

 

[Antigone*]

The name of this forum is FREE ADVICE. And so the "free advice" is to hire a lawyer on a forum devoted to questions regarding alimony? Why even have this forum?

Thank you for the brilliance of your suggestions to hire a lawyer from so many posters, that would have never occurred to me. Obviously I'm not going to take on a divorce with no legal counsel with these type of assets on just advice I got off a random internet chat board. What I was looking for were anecdotes like, "In my divorce I had a similar situation and the resolution was X, but your outcome could be completely different."

If your only advice is "hire a lawyer" on a chat board devoted to questions about "Family law" maybe you should just leave?

Regardless, I'll see myself out, it's clear no one here has a clue about these type of issues anyway.

You do that.

 

[LdiJ]

The name of this forum is FREE ADVICE. And so the "free advice" is to hire a lawyer on a forum devoted to questions regarding alimony? Why even have this forum?

Thank you for the brilliance of your suggestions to hire a lawyer from so many posters, that would have never occurred to me. Obviously I'm not going to take on a divorce with no legal counsel with these type of assets on just advice I got off a random internet chat board. What I was looking for were anecdotes like, "In my divorce I had a similar situation and the resolution was X, but your outcome could be completely different."

If your only advice is "hire a lawyer" on a chat board devoted to questions about "Family law" maybe you should just leave?

Regardless, I'll see myself out, it's clear no one here has a clue about these type of issues anyway.

The reason why you are getting the advice to "hire an attorney" is because of the amount of money involved in your overall situation. There are too many factors and too much money involved for us to give much advice.

However...I will give you one piece of advice. Most people with trust funds do not have unlimited access to the funds in the trust. There is some sort of allocation. Therefore, the amount of yearly income that she is allowed from the trust will factor highly into your divorce...particularly if she is never permitted full possession of the principal.

 

[ecmst12]

I don't think there are a whole lot of people out there who married someone with a large trust fund. Certainly not that I've seen posting here. Your situation is just not that common. Most people who have stay-at-home spouses have actually been SUPPORTING those spouses. Your wife is capable of supporting herself and drawing income without working, so it does not compare to most people's experience at all.

 

[startedone]

5 grand a month alimony. Plus 1/2 of the marital property of course plus a little extra for the lady. 1/2 is not 50/50.

 

[xylene]

I was not "fine" with that at all, let's get over this idea that every stay at home wife is some sort of Martha Stewart. She was being lazy, plain and simple while I was working 60-80 hour weeks to make the living I am now.

She felt she didn't need to work because she was an entitled trust fund baby.

You need to get an idea of what cognitive dissonance means dude.

Because your picture is next to it in the dictionary.

 

[mistoffolees]

If I actually go through with a divorce, I'm going to hire an attorney.

My purpose of asking on a forum like this was just to get some general information/anecdotes about a situation like this.

Just to confirm what others are telling you - alimony is almost impossible to predict even in common circumstances. In your situation, it's going to be impossible for anyone here to guess. I doubt if anyone here has dealt with a multimillion dollar divorce in NJ. In addition, with such a large amount of money at stake, there is likely to be a HUGE variation in how different judges would handle things, so it's impossible to predict without knowing the particular judge.

Start by reading up on alimony in NJ. For example:
New Jersey Alimony, Part 1 | divorcenet.com

The purpose of alimony in NJ is largely to balance the difference in earning capacities. A good attorney will probably try to argue for her that properly investing her money plus 1/2 of marital assets will provide her with a comfortable standard of living. He will also argue that she should be imputed an income (although this number will probably be relatively small, every bit helps).

The big thing you want to fight against is lifetime alimony. Although you are earning more than her now (even if you figure investment returns on her assets), at some point you will retire and the picture will be reversed. Your attorney will definitely want to fight for limited duration alimony - if anything.

 

[tuffbrk]

You're also quite close to the definition of a long term marriage. Once it's a long term marriage and alimony comes into play it is automatically deemed to be permanent. So you need to make up your mind.

NJ judges' opinions vary widely within their own county, never mind outside of it. There is really no way anyone can guesstimate when it comes to alimony. There is no known formula although some judges lean to 30% of the difference in income is awarded as alimony.

But hey - if the Judge had some fun the night before your court date, and is in a happy mood - maybe you will be awarded alimony. You just never know.