This is now being followed by the plunge in US rates. For the record, the no-fault divorce reforms in many of the US states lagged those of the UK by about a decade or so. So our demographic plunge is also lagging by a few years, but it’s definitely happening. Check out state-by-state marriage-rate statistics at:
http://www.divorcereform.org/stats.html

You will see that there was a 20-30% drop in weddings-per-capita in most states between 1990-2002. The institution is dying as fair-minded individuals are saying thanks-but-no-thanks. Any smart man or woman who has something to lose, in terms of current assets or future career potential, would be wise to steer clear of divorce laws in place today. This usually means not getting married, even if they have found the partner of their dreams. Of course they can play the Pre-Nup Lottery; but that too is a gamble as there are many states where the Family Courts routinely throw them out of the window.

So there you go. It’s amazing seeing a 4,500 year old institution go down the toilet in as little as 2 generations. This is not happening because people have become more sinful, or more evil. It’s just that the laws have been changed and tampered with. You change the law, and people will start acting accordingly.

My husband’s Ex award alimony with child support for 2 boys (16, 12) for 55000 /year. She get half of his retirement. She works as a school consultant with Master Degree earn decent income. My husband pay for children’ insurance, medical bill, and collage fund. She is still telling my stepsons that she doesn’t have money. I though she was a decent lady because she works as School consultant for kids, but I was wrong. She is getting bitter and more greedy. She has a boyfriend who they spend time together (but they don’t live together ) for 4 years because she doesn’t want to lose her alimony. She always take nice trips, eat out in the nice restaurant with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend earn even less what my husband pay her alimony. When the boys want to go somewhere else for school break, or eat out she always say she can’t afford it. We are so mad what she did to the boys.

My husband works hard to pay all this shit to this bitch. I don’t think it is fair and US must change. My husband has to pay alimony 15 years more. We would like to retire and move out from US, but we stuck here because of alimony (not child support). He married her for 13 years and he has to pay here more than 20 years (in total). Is it fair? He doesn’t want to see his 2 sons will go thru what he suffers from divorce and alimony system.

I beg to everyone who involve law & order in US, please consider about fairness of divorce. It must change for the new generation.

I don’t know if anybody told you, but military retirement can be awarded to a spouse if that spouse has been married to the servicemember for less than 10 years- case in point:

My husband and his ex-wife were married for less than 4 years. When they got married, she was going to a community college to get an associate’s degree in general studies (which she finished after they divorced). He told her specifically to NOT DROP OUT OF SCHOOL JUST BECAUSE THEY GOT MARRIED. She did it anyway, telling him that she really didn’t want to go to college, and that she was doing it because her family wanted her to. So, soon after they got married, she stopped going to school, and spent her days eating everything in the house and sleeping until noon everyday.

When they got divorced, she told him that she was going to get at least 10% of his retirement pay, because she “gave up her career to support his”. Please keep in mind that she dropped out of college of her own accord, and that when he had to work late, she bitched. When he was transferred to Fort Bragg, she bitched and refused to move with him, because she didn’t want to leave Kansas. (Note to the general population: if you don’t want to move away from mommy and daddy- DON’T MARRY A SERVICEMEMBER!!!) This is also the same woman, who, while he was in Iraq drawing non-taxable combat pay and the like, did not pay off one credit card (of which she had- count ‘em- 5), and ate, I am not making this up, ATE her way through $15,000 (which she did by eating at McDonald’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner). ON TOP OF THIS, she opened a bank account and started putting the money he earned into it without him knowing.

And 10% of his retirement pay is EXACTLY what the judge awarded to her.

And as soon as we are done paying this lazy-good-for-nothing-ladydude’s bills off, my husband is going to fight to get his 10% back. He also had to pay $200 a month in alimony, which ends in Sept. I don’t know what she will do then, because she is HORRIBLE with money.

As for the whole alimony thing: it’s a bad idea. If a woman wants to leave the marriage, she shouldn’t get paid for it unless the couple has been married for 30 years or something, and even then, it shouldn’t be forever. And I am all for a woman paying alimony if the husband stayed at home to raise the kids. Fair is fair, no matter what is between their legs!

Just as a note: I myself had a previous marriage. I was the one who wanted out, and I didn’t ask for anything- not alimony, nothing. I offered to helped my ex-husband pay off our debts, without even getting a lawyer involved. He even told me that if I had not offered to help him he wouldn’t be able to pay it off.

Of course, I outranked him at the time

But I am just saying, A FAIR DIVORCE CAN BE DONE!!!

No. The cost of being out of the work force is real, as Julia points out.

The value of the work of a homemaker enables the wage earner to devote more to his or her career, because the wage earner doesn’t have to spend the time doing those tasks or hire someone else to do them, both of which are costly.

Here’s an exercise: try hiring someone to cook, shop, clean, raise your children, perform whatever other tasks homemakers do, and see how much it would cost. It would add up to a _great_ deal more than room and board.