If you are a woman with a high-paying Florida job, be aware that women are not the only ones who receive spousal support when they divorce. Men likewise sometimes get it. That is why alimony now goes by the name of spousal support. Actually, there is a nickname for when women pay spousal support to their ex-husbands: manimony.
If you saw the recently released RBG movie about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, you likely were struck with how different things are today as compared to the 1950s when she began her illustrious legal career. Back then, most women were stay-at-home wives and mothers. If their marriages ultimately ended in divorce, judges almost invariably awarded them alimony.
Changing times, changing laws
Today many women such as you not only work outside the home, but also make as much as, if not more than, their husbands. During the past five years, 40 percent of U.S. households relied on the woman to bring home the only or major portion of the family’s income. In fact, more than 2 million dads stay home to care for their children while their wives “bring home the bacon” that supports the family.
Not surprisingly, these changing aspects of the American family have brought about changes in the law. While divorcing husbands receive manimony in only about 20 percent of divorce cases, this percentage is sure to rise in the future.
Manimony factors
As with any type of spousal support, judges take numerous factors into consideration when deciding whether or not to grant a manimony award, including the following:
- How much more you earn than your husband
- How much more likely you are to obtain and maintain high-income employment than your husband, and the amount of that disparity
- How much, if any, schooling or vocational training your husband needs so as to be able to increase his earning potential
- The length of your marriage
Manimony payment period
If the judge should require you to pay your ex-husband manimony, be aware that in all likelihood you will only have to pay it for 10 years at the most. This is the maximum alimony period for the vast majority of cases in which judges award spousal support. In addition, your manimony payments undoubtedly will end if and when your ex-husband remarries or when he completes whatever education the judge determined he requires.