Parents possibly divorcing, Missouri

[Reverie]

What is the name of your state?Mo

My mother and stepfather have recently seperated. About 2 weeks ago he told her that he no longer loved her and he walked out of their home,leaving everything and moving back in with his mother. My parents have been married 26 years and for the past 15 years my mom has been a stay at home wife. My parents share everything jointly (bank account, home they own, and a large pile of credit card debts). My mom has no income of her own and is over 50 with no real job skills. She's scared to death and needs advice on protecting herself should this seperation lead to divorce, which it seems to be heading for. Her biggest questions are:

Should she rush out and get a minimum wage job in case he suddenly cuts her off financially or will this hurt her chances for getting alimony?

It's very very important to her that she keep their home, though it's worth very little monetarily. She made the majority of the payments towards the home and is very attached to it. What are her chances of getting to keep the house?

Her name is jointly on credit cards with him although the bills were run up by him. Also he got some cards in her name alone that he ran up bills on. These cards were gotten after she became a stay at home wife with no income. Will she have to pay those debts?

There are no real assets to this marriage with the exception of personal property like computer and photography equipment. Mainly all they have are debts (about $20,000) and ownership of a home/land worth about $60,000.

My stepfather makes about $55,000 a year and has excellent medical coverage and a good pension. What could she possibly expect for alimony? Can she get him to continue her medical insurance? Will she get a portion of his pension?

Morally, I think the debts should rightly be his to pay since they were accumulated by him with the full knowledge that she did not work and would not be paying for them (she didn't work because he wanted it that way) but morality has little to do with what is legal and I think she will probably have to pay these debts and possibly buy him out of his share of their home. She's terrified of losing the house. I think mainly all she would really like is to keep the home and continue to be covered by his insurance, though I think she deserves more than that.

Apparently he's going thru a midlife crisis and has even become involved with another women on line. Currently he's still paying the bills/supporting her but at any moment that could change. Advice would be helpful, THanks.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Reverie

What is the name of your state?Mo

My mother and stepfather have recently seperated. About 2 weeks ago he told her that he no longer loved her and he walked out of their home,leaving everything and moving back in with his mother. My parents have been married 26 years and for the past 15 years my mom has been a stay at home wife. My parents share everything jointly (bank account, home they own, and a large pile of credit card debts). My mom has no income of her own and is over 50 with no real job skills. She's scared to death and needs advice on protecting herself should this seperation lead to divorce, which it seems to be heading for. Her biggest questions are:

Should she rush out and get a minimum wage job in case he suddenly cuts her off financially or will this hurt her chances for getting alimony?

It's very very important to her that she keep their home, though it's worth very little monetarily. She made the majority of the payments towards the home and is very attached to it. What are her chances of getting to keep the house?

Her name is jointly on credit cards with him although the bills were run up by him. Also he got some cards in her name alone that he ran up bills on. These cards were gotten after she became a stay at home wife with no income. Will she have to pay those debts?

There are no real assets to this marriage with the exception of personal property like computer and photography equipment. Mainly all they have are debts (about $20,000) and ownership of a home/land worth about $60,000.

My stepfather makes about $55,000 a year and has excellent medical coverage and a good pension. What could she possibly expect for alimony? Can she get him to continue her medical insurance? Will she get a portion of his pension?

Morally, I think the debts should rightly be his to pay since they were accumulated by him with the full knowledge that she did not work and would not be paying for them (she didn't work because he wanted it that way) but morality has little to do with what is legal and I think she will probably have to pay these debts and possibly buy him out of his share of their home. She's terrified of losing the house. I think mainly all she would really like is to keep the home and continue to be covered by his insurance, though I think she deserves more than that.

Apparently he's going thru a midlife crisis and has even become involved with another women on line. Currently he's still paying the bills/supporting her but at any moment that could change. Advice would be helpful, THanks.

Probably the best thing that you could do for your mother is to help her get a consultation with a local attorney. She really will get better answers to her questions there.

If they divorce, he is unlikely to be able to keep her on his health insurance, most companies don't have provisions for coverage of ex spouses. Sometimes a cobra is available for 18 months, but they are usually pretty expensive.

As far as the assets and debts are concerned, those are usually divided fairly evenly...but a local attorney can give your mother a better idea of what is and isn't possible. She should probably get herself a job, so that she isn't suddenly caught with no income at all if her husband just up and stops paying.