A father decides to leave his wife and move into an apartment
downtown. He’s decided that the children will stay with their
mother- now he has to pay rent, utilities and other expenses
at his new residence, plus child and spousal support. There
are additional expenses, such as security deposits, moving
costs, and storage rental. However, the cost to move into
a new house is small compared to what it will cost over the
long run to maintain two households.
Here’s a way to put it in perspective. Assuming that the
parent has a salary of $50,000 per year, they’d net about
$3000 per month. After a divorce where spousal and child support
are ordered, let’s say at the amount of $1500 per month, that’s
an $18,000 decrease in yearly income. If a person’s take home
pay is low enough, a divorce can ruin them financially and
they’ll be forced to downsize to a much smaller home and lower
standard of living.
Since the parent in our example has children, they’ll need
a home sufficiently large enough so that they have room when
they come to visit. They can’t get a studio apartment, they’ll
have to get at least a two-bedroom. If they’re like most non-custodial
parents, they’ll only get to see their kids every other weekend-
meaning that the majority of the time, the extra rooms will
sit unused.
The custodial parent will then have to try to maintain the
family’s standard of living on half of the money that was
once coming in. They’ll probably have to get a job (if they
didn’t have one), or take on more hours at work just to make
ends meet. However, any increase in income can be consumed
by child care costs.
During divorce proceedings, most people aren’t thinking far
enough ahead to what the divorce will truly cost. By considering
that a move out of the marital home will mean a drastic decrease
in the standard of living (whether you are a custodial parent
or not), more people will be encouraged to work on a more
amicable solution.
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