14 DAY TRIAL // When singer Madonna reportedly paid former husband Guy Ritchie £45 million out of her estimated £200 million as spousal support, the public was shocked, but not beyond words, as it was not the first time that something like that occurred. From what the figures with divorce attorneys indicate, this could soon become a more common occurrence, as more and more men are seeking alimony after divorcing their higher-earning wives.
In Britain alone, leading divorce attorneys are registering a surge in the number of cases in which men seek spousal support from their wives, a request that 10 years or so ago was extremely rare. Of course, back then there was also a sense of shame and admitting defeat by asking to live off your former wife’s money, attorneys say, but the times have changed considerably since then – to the point that, right now, it just seems the right thing to do.
“This is an upward trend, mostly with professional women divorcing lower-paid men. Many women are taken unawares. The husband may have earned £20,000 a year, but the court will account for the fact that her £200,000 wage gave him expensive holidays and a nice car, so he’ll be awarded enough to retain that standard of living.” Fiona Wood, a partner at the Northern law firm Pannone, tells the Daily Mail. A prenuptial contract seems to be the only way to avoid ending up in one such situation, and countless females in the US have already started using this legal means of safeguarding their finances in the eventuality of a divorce.
At the same time, the increasing number of divorce cases in which the spouses’ paychecks differ drastically seems to indicate that the more money a woman makes as compared to her husband, the less likely the marriage is to succeed. Males have not yet become accustomed to the idea that nothing changes about them even if they are not the main bread provider in the household – even if the female can do more things at once, like earn more than them, working late hours and raising children.
“High-achieving women can still find themselves running the household, even if they’re working long hours. The alpha woman can become dissatisfied with this and has the financial independence to leave the marriage if she wishes. There’s also the fact that a man can feel emasculated by his wife’s success, which creates tension.” Sandra Davis, who acted as divorce lawyer for Princess Diana, tells the Daily Mail as an explanation for the high failure rate of such marriages.