If your profession or job earns you a high income in Ohio, it may shock you to discover that you are at risk for paying your husband spousal support when you divorce. As wife.org explains, manimony, the newly coined nickname for spousal support paid by an ex-wife to an ex-husband, represents a growing trend across the country.
Today, only about 20 percent of ex-husbands receive spousal support payments from their ex-wives. However, as the workforce continues to employ more and more women in management and entrepreneurial positions, many women, possibly including you, find themselves in the position of earning more than their husbands.
Changing income patterns
During the past few years, women became the major or only breadwinner in approximately 40 percent of American households. In more than 2 million of these households, the husband represents the stay-at-home spouse, raising the children while his wife supports the family with her income alone.
Manimony factors
As in any divorce where one spouse seeks spousal support from the other, the court will consider a number of factors before making a manimony award to your husband. Some of the most common factors include the following:
- How much disparity exists between the respective current salaries of you and your husband
- How much disparity exists between the earning potentials of you and your husband
- How much disparity exists between the educational levels of you and your husband
- Whether or not your husband could increase his earning potential through additional education or training
- The length of your marriage
- The extent to which your husband contributed to your marriage in ways other than financial
Length of payments
In virtually all divorces in which a court finds spousal support necessary, it awards it for a limited period of time, generally less than 10 years. Even then, most awards terminate if and when the receiving spouse remarries. Alternatively, should the court find that your husband requires additional education or training, it likely will allow you to stop making these payments once your husband completes his course of study.
This is educational information only and not intended as legal advice.
