You’ve taken care of the house, your spouse, the kids, the pets and pretty much everything else involving your family’s home life. You’ve supported your spouse in his or her career decisions, relying on the partnership you’ve built so that he or she provides most or all of your family’s financial sustenance and you provide the daily caretaking. You’re a homemaker, a stay-at-home parent, a supportive spouse, whatever name you want to adopt. Now you’re getting divorced and you have to adjust to huge changes in your financial and personal expectations. No matter if you’ve initiated the divorce or your spouse has, or if you jointly decided it was the right change for your family, you have a lot of decisions to make.
Before you make any decisions or changes, you should meet with an attorney. The time and expense of an initial consultation will be worth it if you are then able to make more informed decisions. You probably have a lot of questions about how your role as a homemaker during your marriage impacts the resolution of your divorce. It can impact the division of your assets, your income and expenses decisions (child and/or spousal support) and the resolution of your parenting arrangements or custody decisions.
Homemakers contribute greatly to the overall health and welfare of their families. They make valuable contributions throughout a marriage or long-term relationship and those contributions should be considered when that marriage or relationship ends. Under the Pennsylvania Divorce Code, homemakers’ contributions are considered in the litigation (court) process. Those contributions are also considered outside of the litigation process when using alternatives such as mediation or the collaborative law process to resolve divorce issues.
I’ve heard it said that since one spouse did not work outside the home during the marriage, he or she did not financially contribute to the family and should not receive a portion of retirement assets or other marital assets upon divorce. I’ve also heard it said that upon separation or divorce, a spouse who did not work outside the home during the marriage should immediately be expected to obtain full-time employment and support himself or herself. In my experience, these blanket statements are unrealistic in divorce situations. I believe both spouses are better off discussing the practical reality of their financial situations with their attorneys using an alternative dispute resolution method such as the collaborative law process or mediation to arrive at a mutually agreeable outcome instead of sticking to such unrealistic positions.
If you would like to discuss this topic or any other family law related issue, please feel free to contact me.