Her sacrifice was pretty good, if you ask me! I would have traded in a heartbeat! In fact, she had an excellent career opportunity at one point during our marriage. She could have easily made double the amount of money I made at the time. But she didn’t want to do it! I would have been happy to stay home with the kids. Heck, I could have started a home-based business too! Kinda makes you wonder why stay-at-home moms can’t do that, doesn’t it?

The vote was very partisan, though. I’m very disappointed by this… I’m a Democrat, and I don’t see how this became a partisan issue. 90.4% of republicans voted in favor, while only 9.6% of democrats voted in favor.

How can you justify permanent alimony after less than a 10 year marriage, as in my case?

And, for your information, the 401(k) is almost always divided equally among the parties, as is any pensions and other retirement savings. Under current law, the recipient then gets to double-dip when the payor retires… because the judge usually forces the payor to dip into his half of the retirement funds so that he can continue to pay his ex-spouse the alimony that is “deserved” to keep her in “the lifestyle to which she has become accustomed”.

As for child custody… that’s another issue where the courts in Florida are seriously biased. I, along with many men I know, would have LOVED to have custody of my children after the divorce. My kids would be better off with me, both financially and psychologically. Unfortunately, a man’s ex-wife has to be a crack addict who is having sex with multiple partners in front of the children before a judge will take her children away from her… and even then, there’s no guarantee!

Furthermore, how is it that the free ride the wife got while she was staying home with the children not counted? The courts say that the wife “sacrificed” her time to care for the kids… but never consider that she was living rent free for all those years, and raising your children is a privilege! In my case, my wife stayed home and didn’t work, even though I literally BEGGED her to work. She would get the kids off to school in the morning, yes. But when they got home from school, she would get dinner ready… and then be hands-off for the rest of the evening, because the two hours between the time they got home and the time I got home was just too much for her to bear… so she needed some “me time” every night, while I worked my butt off all day, every day… and even had to take care of the kids in the evenings, helping them with their homework, getting them ready for bed, etc. On weekends, she would leave or take a nap, while I cleaned the house, cooked the meals, took care of the yard and pool, and fed the kids all three meals all weekend long. How is it that MY contribution to the family is so meaningless?

The new bill makes it clear that neither the payor nor the recipient should have a lower standard of living than the other. It also makes a presumption that alimony should end after a certain period of time.

I was married for less than 10 years to my ex-wife. She was 34 years old when we divorced. I was ordered to pay her FOR LIFE! She was fully capable of working. She refused to work when we were married, and she still refuses today. I should not have to support a woman in these circumstances until I die!

The new bill allows a period of time for alimony to be paid to the lower-earning spouse so that he/she can go back to school and get trained for a career. That’s fair!