alimony - underemployed

[jdoe]

Can a husband say that his soon to be ex is underemployed. There are 3 kids - ages 16,13, and 9. Wife has not worked full time in last 10 years. Was supposed to be taking care of online business that went bankrupt and was working part time but quit that recently. How would her lack of full time employment be viewd in relation to alimony. It's not that she can't get a job - just won't.

[Lester]

If the payee spouse (spouse receiving alimony) has marketable skills yet refuses to work then the payor spouse can go to the court and ask that alimony be adjusted accordingly. The court will impute an income to the payee spouse and reduce alimony by that amount. However, each case is very fact specific and it may be worth consulting an atorney with experience in this area.