For as long as most people can remember spousal support, also known as alimony, has been a one-way street. In almost all cases alimony has involved a divorcing couple wherein the man has had to pay his ex-wife a monthly fee to help support her meet her financial needs. However, times have changed and with more women working, and in many cases making more than men, the tides of alimony have begun to shift across the country, including in Morris County.
According to a report in Reuters, divorce attorneys all over the country have reported an increase in the number of men asking their ex-wives for alimony as part of their divorce settlement. In fact, Reuters also reports that 47 percent of the 1,600 members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers reported an increase in the number of women who are now paying spousal support. With more women entering the workforce than ever before and more fathers choosing to be stay-at-home dads, the numbers are likely to keep going up.
Meantime, according to a report on divorcesupport.about.com, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of people who received spousal support between 2001 and 2006 that were male rose 3.6 percent. That was an increase over the previous five-year period when the percentage of people who received alimony that were male was 2.4 percent.
Elsewhere, according to a report in the Huffington Post, 56 percent of divorce lawyers in America reported an increase in mothers paying child support between 2010 and 2012. As more and more women move up the career latter and surpass their husband’s income, more and more men could start asking for spousal support when their marriages end in divorce.
