nasty divorce with no kids.

first off, i'm very new to this kind of thing. you did say lower case right

I live in ca. my fiance' is in the middle of what appears to be a very nasty divorce.
i guess my question(s) are as follows:1) how is it that a woman who didn't bring anything but misery and dept to a man in a 17 year long marriage is entitled to anything?

2) if ca. bases alimony on style of living during the marriage, how, if the marriage was spent in dept. do the courts determine the amount to give?

3) also, this woman is 13 years older than my fiance' and claims to have no marketable skills(she used to work as a back office nurse. isn't this a marketable skill?), and is 58 years old, how long can she recieve spousal support? i thought that ca. had mandatory statutes in place regarding becoming self-supporting in x amount of time??
normally I would say there are two sides to everything and I have heard hers and his and several people in between, mutual friends of theirs as well as relatives regarding the relationship.

he stayed in the marriage out of a sense of responsibility and feels that he is getting shafted, because the work she does is primarily cash based, she cleans houses and is a dog trainer/sitter & she doesn't claim all of her income.

he has an attorney, and the future ex took a deposition to determine actual income, since she was under oath and asked directly how much she made, cash as well as checks, she had to tell the truth, and it does not match what she entered into her response. his attorney did not have in her possession during the hearing for temporary alimony, so due to the fact that his attorney does not put out, out of pocket cash for anything and it would have cost him $850.00 for an expedited copy, which he didn't have at the time of the hearing, he indeed did get the shaft, as the judge used the response figure, even though it was stated the totals were very different from one another, the deposition obviously higher.

4) he is also in the middle of a workman's compensation case and is still under a doctors care, with another surgery pending, this will be the 4th i believe. during his surgery and recouperation, he had to borrow money from his family and max out credit cards to pay bills and rent. his future to be x is trying to get his settlement declared as community property. Can she do this? the injury came about during the marriage does this make the settlement, if any, community property?

i feel so helpless and frustrated for him. i myself am self-employed as a house cleaner, and i know how much money there is to be made. he does'nt want me to work to pay for her, in fact, he doesn't want me to do anymore, right now, except pay my own overhead, which at this time is minimal. i am in this relationship for the long haul and for better or worse. i was raised old school, in that I do obey, gladly! I try to keep him happy and motivated, he says i'm his saving grace.

does anybody have any suggestions for me, as i really do love him and he is my life and soul mate!