DadsDivorce.com provides essential information and resources about divorce, alimony, child support and child custody to men and fathers at any stage of divorce.

By: Barry Finkel

Alimony, spousal support and the concept of “continuing a lifestyle” are among a couple’s most frustrating separation and divorce issues.

It’s no surprise. In today’s troubling economy, finances are the root cause of many marital problems that lead to divorce. Even in good economic times, dividing a family’s holdings, deciding on the equitable distribution of assets, and coming to terms with alimony, spousal support or maintenance can be a significant stumbling block to finalizing the divorce and moving on with the divorcees’ respective lives.

Recently the Wall Street Journal posted an article by Jennifer Levitz titled: The New Art Of Alimony.  The article on alimony and divorce examines several cases of alimony which, although seemingly extreme, are also indicative of the slippery reasoning and changing situations that create situations in which one ex-partner is expected to pay the other ex-spouse an indeterminate amount for an indeterminate amount of time seemingly without regard to the recipient's ability to pay their own way and even regardless of the payor and recipient's future financial situations.

The article brings up the question of the underlying purpose of alimony, spousal support or maintenance, whether it is still a worthwhile form of compensation in a day when the sexes, now more equally represented in higher education and the workplace , and therefore earning potential are truly equal in the eyes of the court, and whether any of the variety of state solutions to the fairness or unfairness of these payments are working.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article by Jennifer Levitz titled: The New Art Of Alimony.  The article gives some very scary situations in which, years after a divorce is finalized, one partner comes back seeking maintenance or alimony simply because they have fallen on hard times. In some of these cases the ex-partner who is ordered to pay is now unable to retire or their new spouse must find work in order to pay the ex. 

We spoke to Frank Murphy, J.D. of Cordell & Cordell, P.C., to find out about alimony and maintenance as seen in the state of Missouri where he practices.

Question:

What is the rule for alimony when your ex-spouse's boyfriend moves in? I've talked to a lot of guys about this and there seems to be confusion about the addition of a new live-in boyfriend. Does his income ever make any difference in the amount of maintenance and child support that I'm paying? Does the time that he has lived in the house make a difference? Do I still get right of first refusal when my wife wants to leave the kids with him?