Suffolk County Attorney David Vallone Shares Insight on the News of Several States Considering Ending Lifetime Alimony
Centereach, NY (PRWEB) July 12, 2013 -- This May, Forbes.com discussed the growing number of lawmakers who are considering following in the footsteps of other states and ending lifetime maintenance, and what it means for divorcing women. After a recent Pew Research Poll on the subject of women as household leaders, results showed that nearly 40 percent of mothers are household breadwinners. In turn, state lawmakers are debating if the reasoning behind lifetime maintenance is still relevant to the modern family. Experienced Suffolk County divorce attorney David Vallone shares insight on how ending alimony may affect divorcees, and divorce law in New York State.
In response to the Pew poll, David Vallone expressed that while the poll indicates that 40% of women are the primary wage earners in their households, many of these women are single mothers. The percentage of women who are primary wage earners in two parent homes is growing, but the percentage is less than 40%.
When the issue is whether lifetime maintenance should be ended, Vallone agrees that it should be rare, but there are still cases in which it is appropriate. There are still individuals who got married without going to child and began having children at a young age. Some of these people (usually women, but some men as well) are faced with a divorce after a long-term marriage. There are many cases on Long Island where a party in his or her fifties who obtained a high school diploma before high school students were expected to have basic computer skills. They never attended college or a trade school, have no marketable job skills, and may find that they cannot obtain a job with self-supporting income. An individual in this situation will likely never earn more than a small fraction of his or her spouse. A disabled spouse could face a similar fate.
While these cases may be decreasing, many are still dedicating their lives to raising children, and being a homemaker. Vallone suggests that if a state removes any possibility of permanent maintenance for those who sacrifice a career, education and most of their adult life to maintain the standard of living they enjoyed during the marriage, those spouses are then left without tools, or a foundation to support them.
The issue is only made more difficult by the fact that people are living longer. Cases are coming before the courts where a couple who got divorced decades ago have now reached their eighties or even their nineties, and the spouse who is paying maintenance is running out of money. These are the cases where it may be necessary to take a hard look at giving these older people some relief from the burden of paying maintenance.
The solution could lie in lowering the standard to change an award of maintenance. In order to modify maintenance, a spouse must show extreme hardship, an extremely difficult standard to meet. Perhaps the standard could be reduced for individuals who are over a certain age.
On the question of whether or not New York State will follow suit and eventually do away with permanent maintenance, David Vallone offers that divorce cases are among the most unique cases in the entire system. There needs to be some discretion given to judges to address the infinite variety of situations that arise. A blanket ban on lifetime maintenance could work a grave injustice on many parties, and is not something he would support.
For more information on one’s rights during and after a divorce or separation, call the office of David Vallone, and visit his website at http://www.davidvallone.com.
Suffolk County attorney David Vallone has been practicing law on Long Island for 22 years. Throughout his career, he has practiced in the fields of divorce and family law, as well as real estate closings. Since 2006, he has also been a divorce mediator and a collaborative lawyer. If you are seeking the counsel of an experienced Suffolk County Divorce Attorney, please call his office at 631-676-7100 for immediate assistance.
*For Press Information on the above-mentioned party/parties, please contact Tommy Spero of SOUL NYC at 631-240-9153 or via http://www.soulnyc.com
Tommy Spero, The Law Office of David Vallone, http://www.davidvallone.com, (631) 676-7100, [email protected]
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