South Carolina Alimony Reform

In a letter to the editor of the The Herald, Sandra Fish makes a concise, eloquent argument for alimony reform in South Carolina.

Our system is broken. This is the year 2016 and our alimony laws are supporting the ex-spouses roles of helpless women of the 1960 era.

Most people believe that alimony is good for women and bad for men because 95+ percent of alimony is paid by men. They forget that the victims of unjust alimony awards include not just the person paying alimony but the children of the person paying (and 50% of those are girls), people whom they date, and new wives - wives who are often required to use their income to pay alimony to the previous spouse. And because alimony often prevents the person receiving it from becoming a moral, self-sufficient and productive member of society, it hurts the recipient and society in general as well.