MA court orders man to pay alimony - 25 years after divorce finalized

[glenn1]

Just one more piece of evidence that government looks at most citizens as nothing more than a source of tax revenue. So they'll go after this guy who was divorced from his wife in 1982, where both signed a legal agreement waiving any alimony, but the state makes him pay anyway so they don't have to.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703399204574505700448957522.html

 

[blackangst1]

Just one more piece of evidence that government looks at most citizens as nothing more than a source of tax revenue. So they'll go after this guy who was divorced from his wife in 1982, where both signed a legal agreement waiving any alimony, but the state makes him pay anyway so they don't have to.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703399204574505700448957522.html

Well, seeing how there are states who will force men to pay child support for kids they didnt father, not surprising.

 

[BriGy86]

That judge should lose his job.

 

[MotF Bane]

*sigh* Massachusetts.

 

[piasabird]

This is kind of rediculous. However, I could see justification for asking the man to pay back child support if he did not pay it. By now she should be getting or about to get Social Security if she had continued working. This is a case to make an appeal to a higher court. Something like this you just have to test in the courts to see if it can withstand scrutiny. If not, then the case could become a precedent and become a general practice in the courts. With people getting divorced and remarried multiple times this kind of change in the legal system could clog the courts up.

I have seen a lot of cases that went bad for guys. For example one person I knew about the woman filed for divorce and claimed non-support while a GI overseas was paying her "BAQ" which is a housing and support payment military get for dependents. She kept the Army checks and then hid the copy of the court summons in her desk drawer. Then she also collected support money for her children from the state. Then the IRS went after the Husbands money, because she did not file any taxes. In cases like this, you dont really know what the woman is doing and what money she got from the government.

It is better to clear the air. Failure to prepare for retirement is not someone else's responsibility. The State and the Federal Government is very helpful toward single parents in lower tax rates and free schooling. So this is just too bad. Bad things happen to people all the time. I have been layed off more times than the number of Jobs I have held. Also my Wife recently lost her job after 18 years. Things happen and you just have to deal with it.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Disgusting!

 

[shira]

There are clearly circumstances where one of the ex-spouses has a responsibility to the other. For example, if one spouse supports the other while that other spouse goes to medical school, I view the first spouse as "investing" in the future of the other, and therefore entitled to a portion of the benefits, even if the two divorce.

On the other hand, if the two spouses come to a solid divorce agreement that seems fair under the then-current circumstances, I don't think a later change in circumstances should allow the agreement to be re-decided by a family court - that's dirty pool.

 

[Moonbeam]

BoberFett is going to shit unfairness bricks the size of elephant flops if he sees this.

 

[Patranus]

Well, seeing how there are states who will force men to pay child support for kids they didnt father, not surprising.

This.

All a woman has to do is put your name down, go to court, and its game over even if you go on the Maury Show and the DNA test comes back negative.

 

[marvdmartian]

Spousal support laws are often times ridiculous, but seem to be 100X so in Massachusetts. Big surprise.

A friend of mine divorced his wife about 6 years ago, also amicably. She didn't want anything from him, had a good job/career going, and they settled all the property issues before seeing a lawyer. In fact, they used the same lawyer, to save money.

The judge, however, told my friend that he was going to give his wife 5 years of spousal support, at $500/month. Why? Because he's retired Air Force, and they were married for more than 1/2 of his career......and the judge knew that even if she said she didn't want any part of his retirement check now, that didn't stop her from asking for it later, especially if she'd never gotten spousal support.

Basically, he paid her $6000/year for 5 years, so that she could never go after his retirement, or at least have a very difficult time of getting any of it.

 

[I Saw OJ]

Alimony itself is a crock of shit. During the divorce, split up everything evenly and let that be that. That article is so ridiculous it reads like something from The Onion.