To pay or not to pay?

[babysis4real]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
California
I've been married for 15 years and my wife has been bringing in her own income, which is close to the amount that I bring in, for the majority of our marriage. So if I file for divorce, would I have to pay her alimony?

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by babysis4real

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
California
I've been married for 15 years and my wife has been bringing in her own income, which is close to the amount that I bring in, for the majority of our marriage. So if I file for divorce, would I have to pay her alimony?

Equal incomes> You should NOT! You may have to pay child support IF there are minor children AND IF she gets custody.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by babysis4real

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
California
I've been married for 15 years and my wife has been bringing in her own income, which is close to the amount that I bring in, for the majority of our marriage. So if I file for divorce, would I have to pay her alimony?

Like OG said, alimony should not be a factor, but child support may be. However, the marital assets and debts will have to be split.

[nextwife]

And if you are both working, odds are that you SHARE caregiving duties, and neither is primary caregiver. Thus you should have equal rights to custody.

You may want to split custody, if you are staying near where your STBX is living.

[babysis4real]

There are kids, but they are hers from a previous marriage and she is already getting child support from the biological father, so I'm not concerned about that. She actually runs her own daycare business out of the house, so the caregiving duties are somewhat shared, but I do take on most of it, likde taking off of my job most of the time to take her youngest son to the doctors and such because she needs to be there for the kids in her daycare.
The incomes are not exactly equal, as I do make about 3 thousand more a month than her. But she can easily increase her income anytime by accepting more kids, she just chooses not to at this time.

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by babysis4real

There are kids, but they are hers from a previous marriage and she is already getting child support from the biological father, so I'm not concerned about that. She actually runs her own daycare business out of the house, so the caregiving duties are somewhat shared, but I do take on most of it, likde taking off of my job most of the time to take her youngest son to the doctors and such because she needs to be there for the kids in her daycare.
The incomes are not exactly equal, as I do make about 3 thousand more a month than her. But she can easily increase her income anytime by accepting more kids, she just chooses not to at this time.

No. The caregiver duties are NOT shared. They are her children and NOT your children. 3thousand a month more? That is NO WHERE NEAR equal. And there are legal limits on how many children someone can watch in a home daycare. You are full of inaccuracies. Expect to have to pay some alimony.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Ohiogal

No. The caregiver duties are NOT shared. They are her children and NOT your children. 3thousand a month more? That is NO WHERE NEAR equal. And there are legal limits on how many children someone can watch in a home daycare. You are full of inaccuracies. Expect to have to pay some alimony.

Its also probably more than 3000.00 because its unlikely that he is taking her expenses of the business into consideration. He is probably considering only her gross.

Also, and this is a trival point, but if they have been married 15 years and the children are hers from a prior marriage, then there is no "caregiving" involved at this point, because the youngest would have to be at least 15 or 16.

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by LdiJ

Its also probably more than 3000.00 because its unlikely that he is taking her expenses of the business into consideration. He is probably considering only her gross.

Also, and this is a trival point, but if they have been married 15 years and the children are hers from a prior marriage, then there is no "caregiving" involved at this point, because the youngest would have to be at least 15 or 16.

I agree with that. The youngest child is an middle to older teen at the least. But he is looking at alimony. His first post was misleading -- the incomes are NOT close.