What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Wisconsin
Married 24 years, my income is 100,000, hers is 37,000. She does have a college degree and is working full time, although not in the area of her degree. We do not have much for assets; my retirement account, about $28,000 of equity in home, a small Money Markey account (also about 28K). Two auto loans, one with 10K remaining, the other with 16k remaining, very minimal credit card debt also. Two minor children who we will split time with 50/50, no issues there. My lawyer does not seem to think I have any real "grounds" to negotiate in the way of how much Maintenance I will be paying. He is saying because of the long term marriage and the income disparity that really have no basis to contest much on this. I do not feel like simply being at the mercy of a judge regarding this. I feel she is reasonably self supporting already and her income can certainly go up. Any input for me on this? Is my best chance to negotiate with her so this is NOT at the whims of a judge? Maintenance seems like such a vague thing in Wisconsin. This "Mac Davis" calculator is apparently used, and the end result of that tool can vary dramatically based on how you input tax status/exemptions.
Married 24 years, my income is 100,000, hers is 37,000. She does have a college degree and is working full time, although not in the area of her degree. We do not have much for assets; my retirement account, about $28,000 of equity in home, a small Money Markey account (also about 28K). Two auto loans, one with 10K remaining, the other with 16k remaining, very minimal credit card debt also. Two minor children who we will split time with 50/50, no issues there. My lawyer does not seem to think I have any real "grounds" to negotiate in the way of how much Maintenance I will be paying. He is saying because of the long term marriage and the income disparity that really have no basis to contest much on this. I do not feel like simply being at the mercy of a judge regarding this. I feel she is reasonably self supporting already and her income can certainly go up. Any input for me on this? Is my best chance to negotiate with her so this is NOT at the whims of a judge? Maintenance seems like such a vague thing in Wisconsin. This "Mac Davis" calculator is apparently used, and the end result of that tool can vary dramatically based on how you input tax status/exemptions.