And someday soon state legislatures across the nation will slowly but inevitably do away with such thinking.
That is a tough one Dave....
I honestly believe that for long term marriages alimony is often just...whether its the husband or wife receiving it. Sometimes its just for rehabilitative purposes and sometimes its just on a long term basis.
Maybe what we should hope is that each case would be examined very carefully to determine the justness of alimony.
I don't think that someone should receive it if they can live decently with adequate resources without it, but I also don't think that a spouse, in a long term marriage should be kicked to the curb with no resources to keep themselves out of poverty and off the welfare rolls.
My parents were married for over 50 years. I would have expected my dad to provide alimony to my mom if he had kicked her to the curb after 25 or 30 of those years, on a permanent basis.
However when my ex husband and I split, I never considered alimony even though he made more money than I did at the time. Why?, because I made enough to live on decently, and didn't need or want to be dependent on him.