Hello. I've been married for 15 years, separated a year. Husband left and moved in with girlfriend. Am I entitled to half his pension and alimony? Absolutely not a dime left for a lawyer. What can I do?
You are entitled to half of the marital portion of the pension. Alimony will depend upon several factors that the judge would consider, including ages, respective incomes, length of marriage, respective health, children, etc. If I were you, I'd borrow enough money to at least have a lawyer look at your situation. There may be a lot of money at stake.
Alimony is not an issue that can be discussed in an email. You may be entitled to receive maintenance formerly known as alimony depending various factors including his income and ability to work. If the pension is not in pay status you may receive an equitable portion of his pension.
Your question does not mention children, so my answer will assume there are no minor children involved. In general any and all assets acquired during the marriage are considered assets subject to division in a divorce. Therefore you could be entitled to approx. half of ant pension or other accounts accrued from the date of marriage to date of divorce. Re alimony : the new MA alimony statute addresses the duration and calculation of spousal support. The length of marriage is determined by the number of months from the date of marriage to the date the divorce complaint was served. If the number of months is less than 15 years, you could be entitled to 70% of the marital months and if over 15 years, the 80% the number of months. A marriage over 20 years would suggest alimony payment until your husband reaches full social security retirement age. The amount of alimony to be paid would be between 30-35% of the difference between you gross income and your husband's gross income- with consideration for the cost of health insurance coverage for you. All of this information is on my website, if you want to review it. Good luck.
You will be entitled to support and one half of the pension that was earned during the marriage. You can also motion the court for attorney's fees to be paid by him that will allow you to obtain representation. You should consult a family law attorney.
If the pension was acquired during the marriage it is community property and subject to being divided. The judge will look at the entire marital estate in deciding what assets and debts to award to each party. I suggest you hire a lawyer because once the division is made it cannot be revised.
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