Increasing Numbers Of Women Responsible For Alimony And Child Support In Knoxville, Tennessee.

Times, they are a-changin’. Family law lawyer are noticing a shift in the way that divorce courts distribute alimony and child support responsibilities according to a recent survey by the American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers. Slightly under half of the organization’s members said that woman have been increasingly responsible for alimony payments. 56% of those surveyed saw a similar increase in the responsibility for child support payments. Though the changes are happening slowly they are happening. Judges across the country have become more gender blind when it’s time to distribute money between the splitting parties.

Beyond an attempt to be gender blind when issuing rulings, other factors are contributing to the change. Women’s growth in the job market is one important reason for the change, especially after the recession hit jobs commonly held by men especially hard. As women earn more relative to men there’s no longer a reason for them to receive alimony or additional child support payments. Men have also seen increased opportunities to provide childcare given the recent unemployment epidemic.

Another important shift involves women who attempt to argue for child support and insist on not working. A woman claiming that she’s unable to enter the workforce because she’s been home caring for the kids is receiving a much less sympathetic response then it used to. Women are expected to shoulder a larger part of the financial burden; even those that intended to stay at home.

One trend that has been noticed is that disabled men are especially more likely to receive spousal support from judges then they were in the past. Years ago many of these men would have been left to rely on Social Security and whatever money they were able to scrounge up on their own. Now, if the woman is financially able to provide support, increasing numbers are told to step in.

If you find yourself facing the prospect of separation or divorce, you need the help of an experienced Knoxville, Tennessee family lawyer.  Contact Knoxville, Tennessee’s Benjamin Barnett today.