Spousal Support

[hondo1]

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

I have been married 17 years and seeking a divorce. My wife has not worked for the past 10 years. I am willing to give her the equity in our home (we will sell it), pay off all of our debt, give her two thirds of our cash, contents of the house, her IRA and maintenance for two years. Net she walks away with $118 k in assets and I pay her $2800 per month for 24 months (along with roughly another $100k from her parents estate). I keep $15 k in cash and my retirement savings $86 k. She has an associates degree and will be 50 this year.

I think it is fair maybe too much. Thoughts?

[Silverplum]

Originally Posted by hondo1

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

I have been married 17 years and seeking a divorce. My wife has not worked for the past 10 years. I am willing to give her the equity in our home (we will sell it), pay off all of our debt, give her two thirds of our cash, contents of the house, her IRA and maintenance for two years. Net she walks away with $118 k in assets and I pay her $2800 per month for 24 months (along with roughly another $100k from her parents estate). I keep $15 k in cash and my retirement savings $86 k. She has an associates degree and will be 50 this year.

I think it is fair maybe too much. Thoughts?

IMHO -- WAAAAY too much.

Split the marital assets 50/50.
Split the marital debts 50/50.

[hondo1]

Are you saying spilit the assets and no support?

[Silverplum]

Originally Posted by hondo1

Are you saying spilit the assets and no support?

After a 17 year marriage, and such a drastic difference in incomes ($0 for her and $$$ for you), you should expect to pay support for a few years. Talk with a local attorney to find out how judges rule on that topic in your area.

But don't give away the whole farm, dude. You must be feeling pretty guilty -- no, I do not want to know why -- and you will later regret giving away so much of your hard-won assets.

Don't forget -- while you were working, she was not. That's a pretty big "gift" right there. Don't devalue your contribution to her easy life for 10 years.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by hondo1

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

I have been married 17 years and seeking a divorce. My wife has not worked for the past 10 years. I am willing to give her the equity in our home (we will sell it), pay off all of our debt, give her two thirds of our cash, contents of the house, her IRA and maintenance for two years. Net she walks away with $118 k in assets and I pay her $2800 per month for 24 months (along with roughly another $100k from her parents estate). I keep $15 k in cash and my retirement savings $86 k. She has an associates degree and will be 50 this year.

I think it is fair maybe too much. Thoughts?

Lets break it down (forget about her inheritance, that is separate property). Assuming that you are right about what the house will bring, that's 118k in assets to her, and 101k in assets to you. There is some imbalance there, but its unknown how much the house will actually sell for and there will also be selling costs...so maybe the imbalance would smooth out.

However, you are also keeping the marital debt, and we don't know how much that is.

I suspect that a judge might give her a longer term of alimony...1/3 the length of the marriage is a common term.

Basically if a judge had to decide, the marital assets and debts would be split in half, and you would probably have to pay alimony for 4-6 years rather than two.

I would need to know the amount of the marital debt before I could comment much further.