I do not think there should EVER be alimony.

I also think that all divorce scces should start off as 50/50 and no support eiher way. Then from there it should go to court if there is a good reason for it not to be that way.

I think alimony is only appropriate in limited circumstances and for an limits time frame. If one parent gave up the opportunity to have a career and stayed home to raise the kids then its not fair that they are thrown to fend for themselves without the chance to find employment. A few years so the parent can get a job or a degree....not until they marry.

I think alimony laws are basically fair. When a couple decides for one of them to work and the other to not for any variety of reasons it's a mutual choice in their marriage. When they divorce the consequences of that choice are still felt. Alimony provides a vehicle for the parties to share that burdon that their previous choice created.

That's not to say that there aren't lots of people who work the system and abuse the good nature of the law. But that's always true.

Child Support is in my mind out of control in our country. Parents should only be obligated by law to provide basic necessities for their child, everything else is optional. If you can choose to provide it as a married parent you should also have the choice as a divorced parent. If I am not divorced I would not be obligated to allow my kids to benefit from my wages earned simply because the exist. I could choose what and how much they benefit from any incresed standard of living my pay might afford me. I can choose if I let them participate in exrta activities, college, braces, name brand clothes. Current child support laws do not protect my rights as a divorces parent to make those simple parenting choices.

On the other hand parents should not need to be mandated to support their kids just because spitefull people can not be reasonable. Parents - both of them - should feel morally obligated to provide above basic necessity for their children. But sadly many do not.

In theory I agree that all parents should be given 50/50 with no support until the situation proves that it is not warranted or safe. However, having lived it my views have altered along the way. When parents have similar or close pay/standard of living it works well. When one parent has a significantly higher pay the balance of power has then shifted. Because money is power, especially in the legal system. Also, both parents are responisilble for their children 100% of the time, not just the time the are in their custodial care. Kids should not have to live significantly different lifestyles because they live between two homes. I'm not a huge proponent of CS equallizing the standard of living but there is some merit to that.

Alimony and CS are nothing more than money one person is entitled to from another person.

Money is not the root of all evil, the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money can do good if used for good purposes. It can be horrible if used as tools to punish the person giving it.

I think alimony can be necessary is some cases and in other is just plan stupid. My husbands ex wife had 2 bachlors degrees and worked from 22 until 40 stayed home for 4 years and got alimony so she could get yet another BS degree to make more than half of what should could have done with the other 2 degrees making him have to pay child support which is not used on the kids. And we have the kids 50/50 but they are always here by choice. CAN YOU SAY SHE IS A USER!

I have the utmost repect for SAHM.

BUUUT, I think you should NEVER put yourself in the position to not have a job or education just to stay home and parent. Get a job and or education before having kids. To not do so…is setting yourself up to be dependent on someone else and making your life more difficult in the process also.

I would NEVER accept alimony from my ex husband. I made my choices as a grown woman and once we divorced we are not responsible for the other one any longer.

I wish more people were educated about alimony and CS.

Alimony - I wish people understood that when you get married and for whatever reason your wife does not work, the longer that situation continues, the greater the chance is that you will have to pay alimony.

Child Support - Some people complain about how much CS they have to pay. My exBF was the main one that used to b$tch about how much he paid in CS. Sometimes I just wanted to yell: CS IS BASED ON THE NCP'S INCOME!! It's not just some figure they pulled out of the sky!!!

If CS is $1,000 a month, it's because of how much the NCP makes. AUGH!!

Also, CS is not supposed to pay for every possible expense the children have so the CP never has to contribute anything to the care of the children.

BOTH parents are supposed to contribute to the child's needs. The NCP pays his/her share by paying CS, and the CP is supposed to pick up the rest of the expenses. If the NCP wants and can afford to he can contribute more than what he's paying in CS, but the custodial parent should NEVER expect anything more than what she/he gets in CS.

My ex husband had to pay his ex alimony AND pay to send her to school. She was an American Airlines Stewardess when they married so after 5 kids she obviously couldn'g go back to that. Anyway she decided she wanted to be an inhalitation therapist so she went to school for 2 years. She worked exactly 6 months and then got married. He said later that he wished I could have gone to school (not her), would have benefitted all of us a little more.

I personally don't believe in alimony nor CS. I'd rather starve than rely on the money of someone who doesn't love me.

If I could support myself prior to marriage, I will do so after. If I choose to have kids, I make sure I can support myself first, should the worst happen. What do single mothers who are widows do? I hate the entitled aspect of CS. If my ex won't pay it, I won't make him.

Everyone should be supporting their children - even skanky assed BMs who think they should not have to work. This is not the 1950s where one assumes that "mother's don't hold jobs".

Alimony is ridiculous. I lived in Texas for many, many years which had no alimony. That was a good thing. In fairly recent history there is now some limited forms of alimony.

If one is stupid enough to sit home with no skills then it is YOUR fault not the spouses. If the spouse says "You cannot work" well you made a mistake by marrying an asshole.

I'm a big believer in personal responsibility.

What is so common these days is for one partner to QUIT their job - when the working spouse gets tired of supporting a deadbeat a divorce follows and the worker has to pay alimony to the one who quit their job. Lots of men are doing this to women especially in California.