To: The California State House, The California State Senate, and Governor Gavin Newsom
Alimony Reform
Remove unlimited jurisdiction by the California Family Law courts over long term Marriages with no children. One spouse should not be eternally responsible for the other once a divorce is final. End family law jurisdiction at 5 years, no matter the length of the marriage.
Why is this important?
Although California is considered ahead of many of the other states regarding Alimony, we are still living in the dark ages when it comes to opportunity for divorced couples where there are no children, no major assets and where one of the spouses did not work during the marriage.
We need to end the court's unlimited jurisdiction over alimony disguised as "spousal support".
Regardless of the length of marriage, limits should be set on spousal support.
I propose a 5 year maximum spousal support for long term marriages over 20 years to allow the non-working spouse to become self-supporting or to remarry. The standard should be 3 years, and under extreme circumstances 5.