Women behaving badly: cuckolded and downtrodden husbands filling divorce courts

The image of “men behaving badly” has become so familiar that it has even lent its name to a sitcom.

But a new analysis of official divorce figures, dating back 40 years, shows a dramatic rise in the number of separations in which “unreasonable behaviour” by women has been recognised by the courts as the main cause.

The number of dissolutions granted to husbands in courts in England and Wales because of women behaving badly has increased sixfold in little more than a generation between 1971 and 2011.

Lawyers said the trend was likely to be a reflection of women becoming more financially independent in recent decades, and more willing to assert themselves.

But they suggested more generous divorce settlements for spouses with lower incomes – usually the wife – in recent years, have made it easier for women to leave their husband without fear of living in penury.

Written by John Bingham. To read the full article, click here. For more information on family law attorneys, visit http://www.xmgarcialaw.com

Jail Becomes Home for Husband Stuck With Lifetime Alimony

Ari Schochet has grown so accustomed to being sent to jail for missing alimony payments that he goes into a routine.

Before his family-court hearing, Schochet, 41, sticks on a nicotine patch to cope with jailhouse smoking bans, sends an “Ari Off the Grid” e-mail to friends and family, and scrawls key phone numbers in permanent ink on his forearm.

Schochet, who said he worked as a portfolio manager at Citadel Investment Group Inc. and Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG) and once earned $1 million a year, has been jailed for missing court-ordered payments at least eight times in the past two years as he coped with the end of his 17-year marriage.

The reason he ran afoul of the law was simple. He was out of work for most of that time, a victim of a weak economy, and he ran through his savings trying to pay his wife alimony and child support that totaled almost $100,000 a year.

“It’s a circle of hell there’s just no way out of,” Schochet said. “I paid it as long as I could.”

Schochet and ex-spouses in similar changed circumstances say New Jersey’s law unfairly imposes lifetime alimony on them. If they fail to make payments, like the $78,000 a year Schochet owes his ex-wife in alimony, they can be jailed for contempt of court regardless of whether they have a job or resources.

Written by Sophia Pearson. To read the full article, click here. For more information on family law attorneys, visit http://www.xmgarcialaw.com