wife being totally unreasonable-costing me $$$$ in legals

[stresseddivorce]

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

So we have been going back and forth trying to settle for two years and we are finally at a point where we get to court in two months. I am a professional whos income drastically changes on a monthly basis, earning annually between 125k and 190k according to my forensic accountant and her forensic accountant. My business has a large accounts receivable which reallistically onlly about 15-20% is collectible. My wife is working part time 30 hours per week for $10/hr. She does not have a university degree. I am going to have her job tested to see what she can actually earn but as of now i am spending a fortune due to her bs and we are doing depositions. Up until recently, i have been giving her around $6000/month to cover expenses but can no longer cover that amount. We have two kids to note. I feel that she should be getting about $4000/month max but you never know as the judge could go either way.

So my question is how realistic do you think my monthly amount is and what do you think is the worst possible financial scenario i could get hit with. This is causing everyone severe stress as i am sure you are aware.

 

[mistoffolees]

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

So we have been going back and forth trying to settle for two years and we are finally at a point where we get to court in two months. I am a professional whos income drastically changes on a monthly basis, earning annually between 125k and 190k according to my forensic accountant and her forensic accountant. My business has a large accounts receivable which reallistically onlly about 15-20% is collectible. My wife is working part time 30 hours per week for $10/hr. She does not have a university degree. I am going to have her job tested to see what she can actually earn but as of now i am spending a fortune due to her bs and we are doing depositions. Up until recently, i have been giving her around $6000/month to cover expenses but can no longer cover that amount. We have two kids to note. I feel that she should be getting about $4000/month max but you never know as the judge could go either way.

So my question is how realistic do you think my monthly amount is and what do you think is the worst possible financial scenario i could get hit with. This is causing everyone severe stress as i am sure you are aware.

I really doubt if anyone wants to second guess your attorney.

If you're only able to collect 15-20% of your receivables, you need to re-evaluate your business methods.

 

[Zigner]

I am going to have her job tested to see what she can actually earn...

Huh ?

 

[tuffbrk]

You can certainly check the DOL website to ascertain what her income may be but be aware that her local job market is also an influence on the number as well.

You didn't mention length of marriage but if there's 2 kids and you've been in process for 2 years, I'm guessing you are a long term marriage?

Your overall concern should be the length of time you make alimony payments, as opposed to how much. If it is made permanent, ensure that you have verbiage that talks to allowing modification in the event of downturns in your market and income, co-habitation, etc. Also verbiage stating that if pension, 401K's, etc are split at the time of divorce that your remaining portion is not to be counted as income to pay alimony in the future, and that there is verbiage about retirement. Generally, you can take your income, deduct what you believe the courts will impute as income to her and multiply the difference by 30%. Typically, your alimony will be in that range.

Your child support would be calculated, after alimony, and can be calculated using the state support calculator. Your state's calculations may be impacted by the amount of time spent with each parent. I didn't look up your state so just google for the state website.

Keep in mind that "normal standards" are not always applied in each case. Distribution of home equity, assets, etc. may impact the court's decision. If the two of you can reach an agreement on your own it will be less expensive.

 

[Bali Hai]

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

So we have been going back and forth trying to settle for two years and we are finally at a point where we get to court in two months. I am a professional whos income drastically changes on a monthly basis, earning annually between 125k and 190k according to my forensic accountant and her forensic accountant. My business has a large accounts receivable which reallistically onlly about 15-20% is collectible. My wife is working part time 30 hours per week for $10/hr. She does not have a university degree. I am going to have her job tested to see what she can actually earn but as of now i am spending a fortune due to her bs and we are doing depositions. Up until recently, i have been giving her around $6000/month to cover expenses but can no longer cover that amount. We have two kids to note. I feel that she should be getting about $4000/month max but you never know as the judge could go either way.

So my question is how realistic do you think my monthly amount is and what do you think is the worst possible financial scenario i could get hit with. This is causing everyone severe stress as i am sure you are aware.

You don't have to give her any money without a court order. If you have given her $6k/mo. for two years, the court won't give you a gold star for that. The court will expect you to continue paying her.

Let us know her job testing results.

 

[nextwife]

How long were you married?

 

[mistoffolees]

You don't have to give her any money without a court order. If you have given her $6k/mo. for two years, the court won't give you a gold star for that. The court will expect you to continue paying her.

Let us know her job testing results.

Actually, the court can give him a 'gold star' for doing that. If he simply throws his wife out on the street with no money and no support, that can be a SERIOUS problem when they get in front of a judge. Furthermore, some courts will take into account the months that the payor is supporting the payee while the divorce is pending when they set the final alimony amount.

I would not simply stop paying without discussing it with my attorney.

As for job testing, I think OP is barking up the wrong tree. Wife has no college degree and is making $10 per hour for 30 hours per week. It should be slam dunk to get $10 imputed for 40 hours a week. Without a college degree, it's going to be hard for a judge to order more - even if she has the aptitude for something else.

It appears to me that OP is doing more than his share to drive up the costs of this divorce. Playing games with job testing suggests that he's fighting over stupid things - which drives up his cost (especially if he is ordered to pay her legal fees - which could happen with a 6 figure income). It's not going to matter a whole heck of a lot whether she's imputed $20,800 a year ($10 per hour full time) or $24 K a year ($12 per hour). Instead of fighting over stupid things, OP needs to get his own house in order and start thinking about settling rather than dragging things out.

And definitely spend some of his time collecting the 85-90% of receivables that he is not collecting. That will have FAR more value to him than fighting over how much to impute his stbx.

 

[stresseddivorce]

Thank you so much for all of your input. I was married 14 years at time of filing for divorce. My atty suggested the job eval and i pushed for it. I think my stbx is lazy and could find a better job for $15-20/hr as she has much experience in the health care industry. I am also iin the health care industry and do a lot of personal injury. In this area, usually AR is lower as much needs to be written off so volume offsets that. I was hoping for about $4000/month for 6-8 years

 

[mistoffolees]

Thank you so much for all of your input. I was married 14 years at time of filing for divorce. My atty suggested the job eval and i pushed for it. I think my stbx is lazy and could find a better job for $15-20/hr as she has much experience in the health care industry. I am also iin the health care industry and do a lot of personal injury. In this area, usually AR is lower as much needs to be written off so volume offsets that. I was hoping for about $4000/month for 6-8 years

OK. Let's say that she could get $15. (It's not going to be easy to get the judge to impute that if she's never made that much, but for the sake of argument.....)

The difference between her making $30 K and $20 K isn't going to be all that great. MAYBE a few hundred dollars a month difference in alimony AT MOST.

So you're spending thousands of dollars on legal expenses to fight a battle that you probably won't win, and which could theoretically save you a few hundred bucks a month? Sounds like YOU are the one driving up legal expenses.

 

[stresseddivorce]

I was told she will be inputed dollar for dollar what her income could be. It is costing me $3000 for testing including court presence. If she tests for $15/hr which is on a 40 hr workweek, $600 and monthly, $2400, then the difference to what she is making now monthly($1200) is $1200. Therefore i would recoup my expense within 3 months and save over $14000 yearly. Am I incorrect?

 

[Zigner]

I was told she will be inputed dollar for dollar what her income could be.

No. I assure you that you were told that she could be imputed an income. Not that she would be.

 

[stresseddivorce]

I am sure you are correct as the judge does have the final say but i feel that for a few thousand dollars it is worth the investment to possibly save thousands over the course of time.

 

[mistoffolees]

I was told she will be inputed dollar for dollar what her income could be. It is costing me $3000 for testing including court presence. If she tests for $15/hr which is on a 40 hr workweek, $600 and monthly, $2400, then the difference to what she is making now monthly($1200) is $1200. Therefore i would recoup my expense within 3 months and save over $14000 yearly. Am I incorrect?

Whoa. You're way wrong.

First, you're only including the cost of testing. What about your lawyer at $300+ per hour? What about her lawyer if you are forced to pay her expenses? What about the temporary alimony you're paying - which will go on longer if you drag it out. Heck, if this argument over testing and the testing itself only delays things 2 months, that's an additional $12,000 you're spending - before adding in testing cost and legal fees.

On the other side, if she is imputed $15 per hour rather than the $10 she is earning, that's a difference of $860 a month. But you don't recover all of that. AT MOST, if she's making $860 extra per month, that would reduce your payment to her by $430.

So, let's see. Even if you win, you're out a conservative $12 K in extra temporary support. Plus $3 K for testing. Plus at least an additional $3 K for legal fees (and all of those numbers are VERY conservative). So you're going to spend $18 K to MAYBE save $430 per month - at most. Looks like at least 4 years to recover your investment - even with the most favorable results.

And I don't think you understand the career testing, either. There's no way that she's going to test to $15. AT BEST, the testing might show that she's able to do job xyz, but that doesn't mean that the judge has to impute that income. The judge could easily say "in theory, she might have the ability to do that, but in today's environment, no one will hire an untested person for a job that far above their level of experience" and refuse to impute the $15, anyway.

Once again, it's hypocritical of you to blame her for the high legal fees when you're spending time and money on stunts like that.

 

[stresseddivorce]

Interesting and very enlightening. I will review your comments with my lawyer to get his feedback. You may have saved me a lot of $$$$. Glad i posted this question.

 

[Bali Hai]

Interesting and very enlightening. I will review your comments with my lawyer to get his feedback. You may have saved me a lot of $$$$. Glad i posted this question.

Your lawyer already let you give her $144k tax free money for the last two years without a court order. Take your lawyers feedback with a grain of salt.