I Make more Money than my Husband; Will I Pay him Alimony?

Sarah married Tom about ten years ago.

They have a couple kids and a home, and that means both she and Tom work.

Over the years, Sarah’s done well at her job and she makes $65,000 per year.

Tom — not so much. He’s bounced from job to job. Maybe he works for year, maybe 3 months, but usually he’ll stay at a job about 6 months.

Because of this, Tom averages about $35,000 per year.

Now, Sarah’s done and wants a divorce, but she’s scared that because she makes more that she’ll have to pay Tom alimony.

Will Sarah Have to Pay Tom Alimony?

So, will Sarah have to pay Tom alimony?

There are two sides to consider. One is that legal side, and one this works out in real life.

Legal: On the legal side of things, Sarah may have to pay alimony.

In alimony either a husband or a wife could pay alimony. The law makes no distinction when it comes to the gender of the person paying alimony.

In Sarah’s situation, she definitely could pay Tom alimony because she makes about twice what he does.

What she might pay and for how long depend on a lot of things, but Sarah has exposure when it comes to paying alimony.

Real Life: Real life is often very different from how the law reads.

In real life, people hate paying alimony.

Men hate paying their exes to be their exes.

And women, women loathe paying their loser husbands (their words, not mine) alimony.

When men ask for alimony, women simply say no and tell their husbands to take the case to trial if they want to try for alimony.

Our experience has been men don’t really want to go in front of a judge and tell a judge his wife should be forced to pay him alimony.

In our firm, I can count on one hand the number of women who have paid alimony to their husbands. It almost never happens in real life in Utah.

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