Assuming no children in the marriage, the spouse at home has contributed 20 years of cleaning, laundry, cookin

Question

g and personal shopping services. Therefore the at home spouse contributed materially to the marriage and is entitled to a PROPORTIONAL settlement in a divorce."

This line was used to justify a proportional settlement of 20 years of housekeeping AFTER the marriage ends. But during those 20 years she did enjoy the financial support of the husband, food shelter spending money etc.. Why would she be entiteld to additional compensation after she stopped providing the services to him ? If she stops providing why does he have to keep providing ? Is there a book "feminist logic explained to normal people" ?

Answer 1

you know what, i do not thank that you are unreasonable in your thoughts to this. i look at what you say about why should she get payed for a job she is no longer doing and that makes sense to me. i know that i would not get payed for a job I'm no longer doing. good question.

Answer 2

I think a good compromise would be some sort of alimony for a specified amount of time (6 months to a year - maybe more if she goes back to school) during which she could find some type of employment or get a degree.

Answer 3

I think that the she should get nothing especially if she filed for divorce.

Answer 4

the problem with this kind of arrangement is that when it works it's great (for both) but when it doesn't work anymore, the stay-at-home gets screwed because if thinking it was to be a forever thing, she finds herself with no marketable skills and possibly without a degree.  Think about how much work sites have changed since the 80's - some jobs, like technology, seem to change daily.  Perhaps the settlement is to support her while she works to get her life back.  The change in this kind of set-up affects her (adversely) much more than it does him.

Answer 5

I believe the justification would be that she did not develop marketable job skills.

So rather than a division of assets, send her to a vocational school and get her a job.

Answer 6

With no kids there is no reason this person could not learn a skill. Cleaning a house and shopping is not a full time job. I get it done working 40-50 hrs a week and taking care of an 11 year old and having enough time to enjoy life.

If there are children involved it is a whole different story. But just to stay home to take care of a house is silly. Most SAHM moms I know get a full or part time job as the kids get older.

Answer 7

Your willful ignorance is showing.

Answer 8

Because of the term called  "Community Property".   Even in states without strict community property laws,  equitable division of the assets (house, retirement funds, savings)  is the goal.  

http://www.buybeach.com/estate_planning/...

Each spouse is entitled to the support of the other spouse until the marriage ends.   And as it ends its the court who decides about alimony, not you.

Answer 9

A woman who is willing to stay at home and do housework is a very valued thing these days. I wouldnt imagine she would have a hard time finding someone else to take care of her. So you could technically classify this as a "marketable skill"

Answer 10

I believe flagator stated it best.

She did not "profit" from the marriage.  The marriage provided for her basic needs.  Upon dissolution of the marriage, she needs some transitional support to get to a point where she can support herself.    No one is asking for him to support her for the rest of her life.  Just for a transitional period of time.

Does any of this speculation motivate you to be a good partner in marriage so that it does NOT end in divorce?

Answer 11

wow, tough love, huh.  too bad about the lawyers.  They taught ya some pretty long words there.

Answer 12

There should be no proportional settlement in a divorce for her as she did not contribute financially.  Divorce is the end of the marriage so she needs to move on and get a job.

Answer 13

Because she can claim that she does not have marketable skills and as such cannot generate a wage that allows her to live in the fashion she has become accustomed too.

We live in a time where a spouse can be punished for being successful, where you can marry for lifestyle not life.

Personally if no children are involved then I feel once the  marriage is dissolved so are all financial responsibilities towards the spouse. In the case of your 20 year wife with no kids, does she deserve a retirement fund?

NO! since she opted out of motherhood she cannot claim a heavy workload.

No Feminist should ever demand or accept any type maintenance once the marriage is dissolved, doing so proves she never believed in the cause only the rewards.

Answer 14

In my personal opinion, it would depend on who filed for divorce.  If you economize the marriage and look at it as a career with the wife in this case being the employee and the husband the employer, if it were she who filed it would be like she quit a job and should therefore be expected to figure out her next phase of employment without the help of her former employer, same as in the workforce.  If however, he was the one who filed and in a way fired her even though she was still performing her skills adequately, then she should be compensated same as someone would be for wrongful termination until her next job (marriage) hence, alimony.

Ugh, this is why I think both parties should financially contribute to the marriage.  When reduced to economic factors only, the marriage is no longer out of desire, but necessity.  Sad.

Answer 15

Tough - in this day and age the person deciding to stay in the house for 20 years has to accept the risks. Should one get compensated for being stupid and not thinking about the future? I do not think so.

Rather than concentrating on the divorce settlement and lawyers, the person in question should get a move on - a job, new skills, new friends, additional support. Fortunately the courts will not award any of these, as everyone has to arrange it by himself/herself.

Answer 16

Because during the marraige the woman had no oppourtunity to build credit or gain her own assets. They all belong to the man. So this woman can't buy a car or a house or take out a loan, she can't even go back to school if she wants to because everything financially was done under the husbands name.