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Did anybody read the Oct 31st Wall St. Journal special report on alimony? It detailed several cases in Massachusetts, with one, a 17-year marriage ended in divorce in 1982. Both parties waived right to past, present and future alimony. Yet, 25 years later, ex-wife had financial problems, and sued ex-husband (retired with a pension) for alimony. She won $400./wk for five years, with a lifetime $250./wk thereafter. Under Massachusetts law, judges who want to keep a person off public services can turn to the ex-spouse. Scary stuff, indeed!

No kidding. When I got my agreement, my attorney told me in MA you really can't ask for a specific time limit on alimony - we had to fight tooth and nail to get a clause in that alimony would be reviewable even. Ugh...

Greetings,

The Public Radio station in Boston, WBUR, aired a show on this article which was eye opening to say the least.

The show guests included:

- Jennifer Levitz, staff writer for The Wall Street Journal, the lady who wrote the article for the Wall Street Journal.
- Danaya Wright, professor at the University of Floirda Levin School of Law, where she teaches a course in the history of family law.
- Douglas Dougherty, practices family law at Dougherty, Hanneman & Snedaker, LCC in Columbus, Ohio.

You can hear an archive of the show at http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/11/til-death-does-he-pay

Reminds me of the horror stories ab CS in The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts.

You can read the full story at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703399204574505700448957522.html

Regards,

Grasshopper

Let's zero in on the poor chap highlighted in the first paragraph. Ex nailed him for lifetime alimony--even though he had retired, and both had sworn off alimony at time of divorce...
Would we see the same shameful result if he had moved out of People's Republic of Massachusetts--to a more conservative state?
What if penniless ex had moved out the Peoples Republic?
What if our tragic hero had emigrated out of People's Republic? All the way out of USA? Yes, an ex-pat.
At the time of my divorce, my attorney assured me alimony based on earnings--therefore, if I had retired...no issue. Perhaps I shouldn't stick around to find out...