Divorce Laws Must Change

Divorce Laws Must Change

Marriage has become a significant risk and a disadvantage, if you worked hard all your life and became wealthy. Why does your spouse who has never worked have the right to take half your money and your income when he or she decides to divorce you? The law awards divorce for irreconcilable difference and awards alimony to the spouse making no or less income. Divorce laws in California should be changed. The current divorce laws are ancient and inappropriate for the time we live. No spouse should have the right of alimony, money, or property that belongs to the other spouse. Each spouse should have the ability to separate his or her own wealth, income, or money.

“An Appraisal of California’s No-Fault Divorce Law” article by Herma Hill Kay acknowledged “California’s no-fault divorce law became effective in 1970. As the motion’s first “pure” No-fault divorce law, it removed consideration of marital fault from the grounds for divorce, from the award of spousal support, and from the division of property. The art retained fault as a relevant factor during marital dissolution proceedings on only two issues. First, If necessary, a fault could be used to prove the existence of one of the no-fault grounds for dissolution; irreconcilable differences that had caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage. Also, a fault was admissible on the question of the child custody to show that parental custody would be detrimental to the child.” That is what happened to Professor Ron Smith from Sacramento, who married a pretty young lady and had 3 children. One day his wife started an affair with his oldest child’s tutor. She decided to divorce her husband to continue her relationship. She got the house and most of his salary until retirement in children and spousal support. The poor man moved into a small apartment and got to see his children every other weekend while his ex-wife enjoyed spending his money on her lover.

The divorce laws protect women who do not have a job and stay at home to raise the children by providing them the benefit of spousal support. It is acceptable that the current laws protect women who do not have jobs and stay at home to raise the children. “Inequalities for Women in the California Divorce Law” an article published in Journal of Divorce & Remarriage summarized “When California introduced the no-fault divorce law in 1970, is intended to perpetuate equality between men and women through financial and economic means. However, this brought about unexpected consequences as more and more cases of women experiencing economic hardships began to surface. The law did not take into account the impaired opportunities marriage brings to women, and thus could not see the significance of intangible property that should have been included into marital assets that are divided equally among couples upon divorce.” Nowadays the majority of women have jobs, and it is ubiquitous to have higher positions and make more money than their spouses. Now raising a child is not only the mother’s responsibility, but both parents take equal parts financially and usually hire babysitters.
In some cases, the father is the one who stays at home to raise the children. The law should not encourage the lower income spouses to quit their job to collect spousal support. Each spouse should be able to keep his or her own separate properties, money, and ownership before and during the marriage and be responsible for supporting his or herself after divorce. Child support should be divided fairly, and a maximum limit should be set. No spouse should take advantage of the other’s welfare using child support as an excuse.

Spousal support was created to provide security for a woman in particular, but now that women have become more independent, spousal support is not necessary. Nowadays it is widespread for women to have high positions and make more money than their spouses. Imagine yourself in Professor Smith’s situation whether you are a man or a woman, the law can support your spouse to take advantage of you, especially when the statistics show that the divorce rate was more than 75% in California in 2002 and it has been increasing by about 0.5% yearly (“Divorce Statistics”). “California Guidelines for Spousal Support” article states “Under California spousal support law, spousal support may be “permanent” or temporary. Permanent spousal support may be ordered in marriages of long duration (generally ten years or more). In short-term marriages (less than ten years); support is generally payable for one half the duration of the marriage.”

I have supported my best friend (Susan) through her divorce. It was a disappointing and sad experience that I hope I never go through. After she had assisted her husband through graduate school for many years, she ended up paying him spousal support and child support until he remarried. According to the divorce law, the spouse who makes more money pays the difference to the spouse who makes less money to keep living in the same living standard. Imagine after supporting your spouse who never works during marriage for many years, you still end up helping him or her for a few years or until he or she remarries. My friend felt angry, disappointed, and used by her lazy husband and the divorce laws in California. If the divorce laws were different, it would prevent taking advantage of many good people by their spouses like my friend. Each spouse should be faced with equal responsibility and account for their children.

After a couple gets married, they should become one, but after the divorce, the couple goes back to become two separate individuals like they used to be before marriage. After a divorce, none of the spouses should have any financial responsibility toward the other since they have separated physically and emotionally. It is very awkward for someone to be financially responsible for his or her divorcee who is dating or in a relationship with another. In my friend’s case, she had to continue paying her ex-husband every month while he was dating another woman until he remarried. My friend felt really helpless, and she could not do anything except continue to abide by the state law.

The California law for spousal support states that a married couple should take the sum of their income and divide by two. This law seems equally fair, but if one spouse makes most of the income and the other makes the least or none, the sum of both partner’s profits is apparently from only one side.

Child support is justified if limited to a maximum amount, but spousal support is unfair in most cases. It is very possible that a spouse may not be able to have a job because taking care of the children consumes all the time. In this case, most probably that spouse has full or most of the custody. Child support from the other spouse who is able to work should cover all the expenses. However, that may encourage the spouse who has the custody to take advantage and unnecessarily quit his or her job. Do you think Kevin Federline deserves $20,000.00 spousal support a month for the rest of his life plus $20,000.00 child support a month because he married Britney Spears for a couple of years? According to Pop Crunch site by Castina; “Britney Spears and Kevin Federline have reached a new spousal support agreement. Brit will pay K-Fed $20,000 on the first of each month until death or his remarriage. Brit, who brings in a monthly income estimated at $737,868, was originally only required to provide her ex-husband with support until November 2007.” It is evident that Kevin is taking significant advantage of his wife’s wealth and it is quite expected that he will never get married so he would continue to receive spousal support. In this case and many other cases, divorce is a money making business.

The Law is not written in stone; it should serve and protect us based on our lifestyle and needs. Over the years, nations have changed continuously and modified laws as life, and social roles changed. A not long time ago, women did not have the right to vote, and minorities suffered a great deal of persecution due to unfair laws that were acceptable socially at the time. We must change the law to fit our life. We have the right to pursue our congressmen to petition a bill for changing divorce laws to protect spouses from taking advantage of each other. When a married couple separates ownership of property and money, it may show that they have no trust in each other and it may sound like you are preparing for divorce when you separate your finances while you are married, nevertheless, let’s be practical and realistic, statistics show that more than 80% of marriages in California end by divorce. In most of the world countries, keeping separate finances and ownership even the last name is the norm. When people choose to get married under the new laws, money will not be a factor and marriage would be more truthful and compatible. Hence, the divorce rate will drop. In the case of divorce, it will be less hassle with less money and time spent on lawyers in court. Sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent in court fighting. According to The article “The average cost of divorce in California” stated “The average cost of divorce in California varies, based on several factors: the type of divorce, filing fees, copying and notary costs, how the papers are served and whether attorneys or specialists are used. For couples who agree on everything, have no children and don't hire attorneys, the average cost is $355 to $400. For couples who disagree, have children together or hire attorneys, the average cost can be tens of thousands of dollars.” Wouldn’t it be more logical to have laws that are clear-cut and less gray so we can spend that money on the children’s education or welfare instead of lawyers?

Works Cited

 “California Guidelines for Spousal Support.” Dishon & Block California Divorce & Family Law

Experts. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.King, Laural. “The Average Cost of Divorce in California.” ehow.com. 2010. Web. 28 Nov.

2010.

Castina. “Kevin Federline $20,000 A Month Spousal Support Until Death Or Remarriage.”

Popcrunch.com. SeaWaves Technology, 14 Sep. 2007. Web. 24 Nov. 2010.

 “Divorce Statistics - Divorce Rates.” usattorneylegalservices.com 2006. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Kay, Hill Herma. “An Appraisal of California's No-Fault Divorce Law.” California Law Review,

Inc  (1987): 291-319. JSTOR. Web. 28 Nov. 2010.

Utsumi, Keiko. “Inequalities for Women in the California Divorce Law.” Journal of Divorce &

Remarriage. (1991): 153. ProQuest. Web. 28 Nov. 2010.