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my wife and i are strongly considering a divorce through a mediator here in NY,we have been back and forth to mediator and it is stressful to both of us so we stopped going while we try to figure out things although we never seemto be able to, however, at that time, in august of 2011 we signed papers stating that we were separated. We still reside in the primary home together<<< we also have a 2 family rental property and both homes are worth the same and have the same equity, during mediation, she stated she wants the primary property and i also want the primary property. It would make most sense for herto take the rerntal property because it brings in 48 k annually. She is currently employed at a hospital (45K yearly)and will be there for 25 years December 0f 2012.... i am Disability retired for about 6 years from nyc Fire Dept and make more... she wants to stop working this december, we barely dont get along as it is except for the times where we dont talk and for her to retire would lead us to fight even more.i feel id be forced to pay more alimony if she stops working whereas right now i might not have to pay alimony or only for the time it takes to get a divorce, is this true?One of the reasons for pushing the divorce is that i receieved a personnal injury award 230 k and is currently in an Escrow and i do not want to co-mingle the money, attorney says she is only entitled to the loss of services portion which is 5-10 % which just prior to getting the award she said our marriage was horrible but still wants the $$$ to be put into the joint account anyhow, i feel she just wants me to combine the lawsuit money then she will want to then file. we still have difficulty bringing the marriage to an end, both 47 and been together since 18... i feel the longer i wait.... the worse off i will be because of of right now, an attourney has said that here in NY they are already in the process of trying to change the laws regarding Alimony/maintenance to make it manditory like child support where they will take a set amount % out of the paycheck whereas right now i might not have to pay anything or only 250.00 per month , which is what the mediator said at mediation last year if she puts in for that due to the difference in paychecks..... can you share any details about this because i fell if i wait, i will get hurt further financially if it goes to a percentage taken from my disability check. again, an attorney has also said that the 250 per month shouldnt even be permanent because it should only be for the time it takes to get the divorce which the mediator said can be done in 3 months which is goodPaul XXX-XXX-XXXXemail XXX@XXXXXX.XXXps.... i have read all of the variables that go into alimony however.... are they changing the laws and taking a set % of a paycheck and if so, by waiting, wouldnt i be doing further harm to myself?
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States Already Tried: mediation, still in process... we just never went back and i feel she is stalling because of this possible new change in alimony laws in ny,if i suggest us to go and finish this up and make appt with mediatorshe will go right away, its just really me being undecided and she is just thinking about the lawsuit money
NY has been arguing about changing the alimony laws for a couple of years and MA has just managed to do so 3 months ago. However, the problem right now is NY is not really close to passing the changes in the alimony laws and it may be several more months before they do so. ALSO, the law is not going to make spousal support mandatory like child support, it is going to just set amounts and percentages for those the court finds entitled to alimony because now some courts award excessively high alimony and others are low and they are just trying to standardize that not make it mandatory that alimony be paid in every divorce.You may want to also consider that if mediation is not working here for the two of you that you may end up having to go through the regular court divorce process and generally when people get nowhere after 2-3 mediation sessions, filing for divorce and going through the court process is typically the best move at that point.If you have read the alimony rules and guidelines, you likely know that her voluntary quitting of her employment is not favorable to her for receiving alimony and the court can impute income to her based on what she was earning prior to voluntarily quitting (at least the difference between her retirement and her salary).
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