how to calculate alimony, spouse abuse

[askask]

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

Question: how to calculate the ammount of Alimony to request.

Case details:
the below details are well documented and proven/provable to a court:

not yet divorced, filing the paperwork as we speek.
sopusal abuse case. married for one year. Wife forced to relocate for safety. Court documentations proving this. Seeking lawyer and help with claiming/how much to claim in alimony.
The man this case is against has VERY rich parents. His parents send him (great ammounts of) money, and has no job. He is a drunk, spent all of her savings and paychecks. Wife moved from Africa to US in her last year of school to get married, which gave her her green card. His parents were the sponsor of the green card and promised to provide financial backing pay for school etc. When she filed her first abuse case against him his parents took away her financial backing, revoked her tuition, canceled her credit cards, etc. etc. which is ILLEAGLE when the person agrees to sponsor the green card. (currently also seeking advice on how to sue for this because of her lack of income). She now has many student loans, medical bills, and no job (actively seeking one). Before the marrage she had a sizable savings and good paying job. she lost it all because of this abusive marrage.

I wrote this for a friend, any advise or suggestions will be greatly appreciated, she can not afford to speak to a lawyer.

[outhouse]

[[sopusal abuse case.]] was husband charged with any crimes?

[[Wife forced to relocate for safety]] was wife injured and husband charged with a crime?

[[The man this case is against has VERY rich parents]] doesnt matter

[[I wrote this for a friend]] tell your friend to start her own account and post here so we can help


in a short term marriage with both party,s having possibly no income the odds for spousal support are slim

[Eekamouse]

Your "friend" didn't marry his rich parents. She married him. They won't be obligated to support her.

[Dogmatique]

Did the parents revoke the I-864? This could well be the critical factor - if they have not, the sponsored immigrant has the right to sue the sponsors (not her husband in this case from what you've said) for support until the immigrant either:

Leaves the country (abandons residency permanently)
Has earned enough qualifying SS quarters (works for roughly 10 years)
Dies
Naturalizes.

Divorce does not get rid of that obligation.

She needs to seek help, and if she has been abused, help her find a women's shelter if she's not there already; many will have at least knowledge of where she can find low-cost or even free legal aid; if she intends to sue for support using the I-864 (that's the Affidavit of Support) she WILL need legal assistance.

By the way, it's not illegal to cancel her credit cards etc, and although they are obliged to support her, she needs to assert her rights. The amount they are responsible for is only up to 125% of the federal poverty level (around $1000/month) which is not much to live on - she also needs to find work to help support herself.

Here is a link to AZ Law Help - there is an alphabetical listing of referral topics.

[url=http://www.azlawhelp.org/legalaidlisting.cfm]AZ Law Help > Organizations[/url]

In terms of her husband and alimony, it's unlikely that she would be awarded alimony (outside of the I-864 issue) for such a short marriage.

[Dogmatique]

Originally Posted by Eekamouse

Your "friend" didn't marry his rich parents. She married him. They won't be obligated to support her.

OP's post:

His parents were the sponsor of the green card

Actually, if they sponsored her using the I-864 and she does sue, they're on the hook for support.

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by Dogmatique

OP's post:



Actually, if they sponsored her using the I-864 and she does sue, they're on the hook for support.

Dog you are showing why you are number one newbie in my book. I think I will make you a stable hand. Ask penelope for job requirements and duties.

Anyway, she cannot sue them in the divorce proceedings unless she makes them parties. This would not be ALIMONY but rather support required by the federal government. She should contact an immigration attorney.

[Dogmatique]

Gosh thank you OG

Fwiw, this one is a sort of pet subject for me. Unfortunately had very good reason to watch the Stump case very carefully!

[askask]

Thanks for the help....

this friend is my roommate and she started her first day of work today so I am (again) posting for her..she is reading these too..

shes did the support shelter for a few months and is just now starting to fight back. Wife has medical records of injuries, i will check if the husband was charged with a crime or not...if it matters, he has been/is addicted to coke, weed, and has been arested for coke (before the marrage)

both parents and husband signed to sponsor her green card, I-864 was not revoked.
but her (new) job pays 30k/yr so sueing for the lack of support may also be invalid ?!?


Her main concerns are basically suing for unexpected strain on financials that she had including:

1) paying off the medical debt that she had to incur from the abuse
2) school loans now incured from cutting a semester short from relocation and going to a more expensive school
3) loss of income (6 ish months)/ from moving away and not being able to find a job until recently.
4) complete loss of savings due to husband

feel free to correct me if i am wrong but..:

• ) Alimony is charged directly to the husband, and since her income is (now) greater then his, and that since it was a short marrage the chance for alimony is slim.
  
• suing for green card support is invalid too since her income is now 30k/yr
  
• her concers listed in 1)-4) are suable in small claims and seperate form the I-864 and alimony issue

[outhouse]

#1 she has to prove abuse
#2 she cut the semester herself...and if she did win she would probably not be subsidized for a quote better school
#3 she moved away on purpose
#4 welcome to the club

[Dogmatique]

Yes, OP, that's how it appears.

She stands little to no chance of getting court-ordered alimony for such a short marriage. Sorry.

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

If it can be proved that the husband abused her, she could have the courts order that he pay the medical bills atributable to the abuse.