Saturday, January 23, 2016

Minnesota Alimony Reform

At long last there is now a formal Minnesota Alimony Reform movement. This is the best hope for improving justice in Minnesota I know of.

The organization's goals are legislation oriented and straightforward:

  1. Reform Permanent Spousal Maintenance: Support and encourage independence for the parties of divorce by reforming centuries old laws, such as permanent spousal maintenance. This form of Alimony creates a lifetime of dependence on an ex-spouse. Often times the recipient’s full-time occupation becomes maintaining a lifetime “lottery winning” instead of using such intelligent and energy for independence and positive productivity for society
  2. Create durational limits on spousal maintenance to a maximum of not longer than one-half of the marriage for able bodied individuals
  3. Base the amount of spousal maintenance awards on a “calculator” or “formula” similar to Minnesota’s present child support system, with specific determinants built into the equation that are pertinent to Spousal Maintenance. 
  4. Reform Alimony laws to give specific guidelines, so they can be applied consistently regardless of the judge presiding, while allowing enough judicial discretion to protect the truly needy.
  5. Everyone should be entitled to retire. Alimony should end at the retirement age established by the Social Security Act.
  6. Cohabitation of the recipient of Maintenance shall terminate the payor’s obligation, just as death or remarriage currently do. Minnesota law should encourage marriage in a time when marriage rates are declining and cohabitation is increasing.
This is an effort I fully support. I expect you will be hearing a lot more about Minnesota Alimony Reform and their efforts in the future.

1 comment:

  1. I couldn't agree more. I've seen too many friends screwed over by the system. Here is my friend who can't pay his electric bill ordered to pay alimony to his ex who is engaged to some guy living in a big house and taking a trip to mexico. He's being thrown in jail for contempt. Outrageous

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