It can happen, I've seen this, just reverse he/she. She put him through law school (completed) and he prefers pot and minimum wage jobs. And he wants alimony.
There will always be shitty situations like this. That's why in theory you should gtfo early - less than 5 years in it should be manageable, 1-2 years alimony max.
Ah yes, alimony.
I remember the face of a freshly divorced man seeking financial aid for his medication. If your income is low enough you can get them more or less for free if you meet the conditions set by your state-owned insurance carrier (loosely translated prescription charge exemption).
I worked there for just a few weeks, but even i saw immediately that he had no chance whatsoever to get a prescription charge exemption.
He had to pay alimony for 2 kids and his ex-wife, and quite a bit at that. So i tried to let him down gently.
Of course he was not happy, and demanded an explanation.
I put it as simply as i could: Alimony for kids and wife is not a business- or necessity-based expense, but a personal expense. No one forced him to marry, or have 1 or more kids. And the state/insurance carrier does not take them into account for calculating the exemption.
He did not say anything, but i swear i could hear his internal screaming.
Both parents are not “expected” to work. Both parents tend to work because it is nearly impossible to support a family on one income today.
In many marriages one person makes a lot more money than the other. Alimony, actually Spousal Support as it is called today, is granted for a period of time so the person making less has a chance to better their earning potential and support themselves. There is a formula for how many years it is paid based on earning capacity and years of marriage.
its kinda like white guilt, but.. male guilt? perhaps?
or an archaic practice we havent lost akin to marraige, the war on drugs etc.
or some misplaced outlet for faux-chilvalry that shouldnt be a thing since we're all evidently "mysoginists" if we are masculine anyhow.
aka society in the usa is VERY broken in the last decade and i dont see it righting itself soon enough.
in the end - dont get married. its litereally a lose on almost every front for men now. a gain on almost every front for a woman.
Same reason why its still mostly present all over the world; laws are not quick to follow societal changes / progress.
This is literally a troll thread, but people still post in it. SMH.
It's easily preventable though: just don't get married!
If you do, then you have willingly and knowingly decided to take this risk.
Laws don't change as quickly as cultures do, obviously. A thankful thing to be sure but unpleasant for the people in these situations. A lot of the time it's buyer beware but no, to not know you're being played is literally what it means to be played.
Paladin Bash has spoken.
It is very simple.
Back in the days, if you wanted a partner, if you wanted a family, you had to get married. There was no other way, at all. So people did.
Nowadays, there is literally no reason to get married. There isn't one. Marriage is a scam, it's the worst deal that you can make - you are gambling half of your life to something that has 50/50 chance to fail, and you get absolutely no reward whatsoever in case you "win".
You can be with the same partner for 50 years without getting married. Nobody is stopping you, nobody is judging you, nothing. There is literally no reason, at all, to get married.