Quitting any work is the dumbest idea being stated out here. You will fuck yourself even more. You will be imputed that the average income you made for the last 3 years. Having a high support rate when you quit your job is not going to fun. For all you idiots who think you can just not work and therefore you can skirt your child support obligations, stop. Just stop. Stop thinking, stop giving advice, stop being idiots. Do you really think that when the family law act was created and updated over and over again over the years, that the smart people making it, didn't think about all the angles support payers will use to get out of paying support???? Come on.
Depression will only work so far as well. He was never depressed before, but NOW has clinical depression that will never go away???? Fuck off with that bullshit too. Not to mention how insulting it is to those who actually suffer. Why not suggest to him to fake fucking cancer too????
OP - you are screwed if your goal is to try and save money on this. You made the choice to make all the money for the family. That will not change, nor should it. If you guys stayed together, she would still stay at home for the kids, so the same will be expected when you are divorce. You don't change shit and neither does she. You pay, she parents. Sorry to sound harsh, but you made your choice for life. Now you have to stick to it. Thankfully only until your last kid is about 18 and out of the house, or 23 and done college. Welcome to living with your decisions in life.
Well-said.
At least one of you is being a selfish dick. Put your fucking kids first, end of story. "Things are not going great" - what the fuck. Things will go worse for your kids and they have their whole lives ahead of them. And what do you think will happen when they get married without knowing what a real family looks like. For fucks sake some people should never have kids.
Almost nobody gets married and has kids knowing their relationship is heading for failure. But shit happens and life changes. If the OP saw this coming before he had kids, then I'd agree, but hindsight is 20/20.
"Things are not going great" is an obvious understatement.
Do you think it's better for the kids to think a marriage doesn't need love to remain successful?
Do you know anyone that grew up with parents who only stayed together 'for the kids' that would force their own kids to endure that kind family dynamic? With certainty, I know of none.
Along with Ms Femme's remarks those advising counselling are also wrong in this case specifically and also generally. Even when both parties are committed to counselling the success rate is low, under 30%. OP has already stated that she wants to divorce. She will not be an active participant in counselling and therefore it will fail. She has already made up her mind and will not do the homework necessary for couple counselling. Furthermore, all counselling will do is give her ammunition.
Lawyer Up!!!
He said there's been talk about divorce, it sure didn't sound like it's a foregone conclusion according to OP.
Even at a 30% success rate, that's a lot better than a 100% chance of divorce, assuming the marriage is indeed irreconcilable.
Ammunition for what? Unless she/he is being abused or one partner is cheating, it's a no-contest divorce. And if it's not a no-contest divorce, all it does is move up the timeline for dissolving the marriage.
Unless you're talking about custody. I'm not sure what you think could be brought up there which would impact the eventual outcome if the custody decision had to go to court to be settled.
That's why it is important to do it immediately. If he waits until after the divorce starts, then it will indeed be too late. It has to be done in the context of the happy marriage.
It doesn't sound like a happy marriage if there is a lot of talk of divorce. If they're not having sex and have had conversations about divorce, the eventual date they agree to as their separation date may have already passed.
Seems like you're making a lot of assumptions about this couple when it comes to what would motivate her to abandon the idea of a divorce. Neither party
improves their individual financial situation by separating when compared to what they'd become accustomed to as a couple.
If they aren't happy as a couple, quitting your job won't solve this issue. This is dumb advice. I get the feeling you may not know what you're taking about.
What you are suggesting sounds like imputation of income (which it is), and I'd be willing to bet there isn't a court in the country that would feel differently.
Assuming that quitting his job doesn't change her mind about wanting to separate, they'll usually calculate his support payments based on last year's income (you submit 3 years worth of financial records during disclosure).
Can't pay what was agreed to because he just quit his job? After he sells off his remaining assets to meet his support payments while staying unemployed, he'll need to apply to vary his support payments while he remains unemployed and now asset-less. As soon as his situation changes, he'll be back to the regular payment (usually based on last year's income). And if he doesn't actively seek employment he'd be facing legal penalties.
Assuming she gets the kids, this plan would be risky for someone hoping to have their shared custody agreement upheld by his wife going forward. Can't pay child and spousal support because you have no job? Good luck seeing your kids.
I don't know why I'm still debating this idea. It's stupid.
Never mind this thread, but from all the shit I've heard from coworkers getting divorces or legally separated, my dad was right.
Get a pre-nup. And if she says no, tell her to fuck off.
My dad and I butted heads on numerous issues (he's more old school thinking, while I'm more in the middle), but I got to him this one. Protect yourself and don't get screwed in divorces and settlements. He used to tell me this in the 80s. 30 years later and still holds true. I feel bad for all the good guys I know who went through this. It really bums me out too to see them like that.
And aside from one guy who seemed to settle it amicably, every other guy I know got screwed in divorces.
During a happy marriage it seems everything is smooth and nice, but one thing's for sure.... when it comes to divorces women almost always transform into money grubbing bitches who'll try to take as many dimes they can with them. You rarely see the guy (whether he makes a lot of money or not) doing the same thing. The guy just wants to break up and split things reasonably well so each person goes their own way.
The women will morph into a Bay St banker.
It's weird, but some reason that's how it works.
I know a lot of couples with prenups. Of those that have split, I can't recall a single time when the prenup wasn't tossed when it was challenged in court - this includes my grandfather (now long deceased) who had an 'ironclad' prenup drawn up before he married his nurse at 85 and divorced her at 90.
I'm not saying they aren't worth the paper they're written on, because they do serve a purpose, but I'm not sure what you think a prenup would have done for OP. She'd still be entitled to equalization and support.
Assuming OP didn't have a ton of assets by comparison to her at the start of their partnership, she gets half of the wealth
they created together, and is entitled to support as she becomes self-supporting.
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OP - I had two sets of friends growing up whose parents divorced and still lived together. One friend's parents, to my knowledge still live together, many, many years after their kids moved out.
I have a few friends and a couple neighbours who intentionally bought homes steps from each other to allow for more shared parenting opportunities.