A woman earning five times more than her government employee husband is in the spotlight after she decided to proceed with a divorce. Seeking suggestions on alimony after separation, she asked social media users whether she needs to pay alimony to her husband.
The 35-year-old woman in a post on Reddit said that their marriage is in soup as the couple is going through a rough time. Married to 35-year-old government employee for 5 years, she said her husband would not “agree to a mutual divorce easily without demanding money….so I may have to contest it on grounds of mental cruelty.”
Sharing details about her partner’s earnings she said, “He works in the government sector…. and earns around 1.2 lakhs per month, while I work in IT with a CTC of around 75Lpa.”
Alleging that her husband has been financially and emotionally abusing her, she added, “I fear he will try to use his position and influence against me to continue exploiting me more. I have moved out of govt quarter and living separately.”
She sought advice from social media user about filing for a divorce in any other far away state. Questioning her obligation to pay alimony, citing domestic abuse, she said she has “call recordings of him abusing and shouting and other bank details.”
Social media reaction
Social media users poured in with insightful answers in the comment thread. One user remarked, “Yes he can “claim” if your salary was sustaining his life style as well. If you both were utilising the government quarter … the amount of alimony would get drastically reduced as you would be moving out. Also there are chances that if u leave the residence and he wasn’t using your money to fund his lifestyle you wouldn’t have to pay.”
Another user wrote, “Very rare site where wife earns 5x than the husband. You’d be definitely made to pay Alimony, and neutrally speaking – you should. You can be asked to pay anything around 20% to 33% of your Cash in hand income as Maintainance, over that Alimony can be decided on your Income and any Asset that you own.”
The user further suggested, “You can transfer the ownership of such an asset for the time being to either your parents or someone who is the most trustworthy ( Real Estate, Car, Stocks etc especially ). Get your gold too out of their reach ASAP.”
A third user replied, “He is working and that too in some government organisation or department, he is made for lifelong and cannot be a dependent on the spouse, not financially. Alimony may not even be considered…. dirty linen will be washed in public, so be mentally ready and clean the cobwebs and skeletons in the cupboard.”
A fourth comment read, “Filing in another state won’t usually work; jurisdiction follows residence and marriage location.”
A fifth user stated, “If your husband’s salary is enough to sustain himself you don’t need to pay him anything. Since he has a government job with accommodation and other benefits plus 1.2 lacs per month salary that’s more than enough for him. Don’t bother negotiating with him for a settlement offer as courts don’t normally award maintenance to a husband who is earning decently.”
