Child Support:
The child support is typically calculated as
CS = (Hu*****and's Gross Income + Wife's Gross Income)*rate
For 1 child: rate = 20%
Suppose you get 40% custody, you pay out 20% of your income and
your wife pays 20% of her income.
You receive 40% of child support which is CS*40%.
Your wife receives 60% of child support which is CS*60%.
For 2 children: rate = 25%. For 3 children: rate = 35%.
This is only the guideline. The judge has the right to make his
decision. Remeber, the income is the gross income before tax.
If your income is high, you may pay 50% tax (Federal, State, City)
and may end up with only 25% of your income. If you pay the alimony,
you may end up with only 10-15% of your income.
Alimony:
There is no legal guideline for alimony. The woman groups pushed
for wife to maintain current life style. This is unfair to men
and not practical since there is no way for the same money to maintain
the current life style when supporting two households instead of one.
This leaves a big room for lawyers to play.
In my legal practices, I have seen many men suffered a lot from greedy
Chinese women who came to United States for nothing except sucking money.
My sympathy goes to the poor victims of greedy Chinese woman.
As you can see, the keyword here is the CURRENT life style at the time of
divorce. It can take more than 2 years to finalize a contested divorce.
Particularly, if a good lawyer wants it to last longer. The income of a
hu*****and can change dramatically. If the hu*****and losses the income and
depends on social security. The life style of living on social security
is the CURRENT life style at the time of divorce. The wife will not
receive any alimony in the future.
If the hu*****and becomes a super rich at the time of divorce, the wife
of super rich is the CURRENT life style. The hu*****and has to pay a big
alimony to maintain the rich life style for the wife even he may suffere
financial losses in the future. Further, if the wife does not marry,
he may have to pay for the whole life.
The self-claimed lawyer "nylaw" says that alimony can be raised if the
hu*****and's income increases after the divorce. I have to point out that it
is nearly impossible and almost never happen. First, it takes a lot of
legal efforts and money to reopen a closed case. Second, it will take a
long time and a long legal process for a closed case to reopen. Particularly,
facing the strong objection of hu*****and's lawyer. Third, the hu*****and can
move to another state and cut the communication with the ex-wife. It is
very difficult and almost impossible for a wife to obtain
the accurate salary information for the hu*****and after divorce after the
hu*****and moves to the state on the other side of the States. This is
the absolute essential information needed to open the divorce case. Forth,
the hu*****and's lawyer can use the legal statement "the CURRENT life style
at the divorce" to defend for the hu*****and and against the request of wife
to increase the alimony.
Finally, my advice to the poor hu*****and.
1. Find a good divorce lawyer who is sympathetic to you.
2. For the best of your interest, you must do your best to reduce your
income, your life style and your wife's life style.
If you are at the risk of losing your job, it is
better to loss now rather than after divorce. It is very hard and
takes a lot of efforts and money to open a closed case.
You will certainly
face a very strong objection from your ex-wife to reduce your alimony because
you loss your job. The chance to win is very small. Even you wins,
it will have to take several years of legal process to reduce your payment.
3. Do not marry a greedy Chinese woman in the future.
