GETTING OUT: A Divorce Manual

The following is the fourth in a series of five excerpts from GETTING OUT: A Divorce Manual, written by the law students and attorneys of the Domestic Relations Project of the Cleveland Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. Copies of the Manual are available from the Women's Caucus of the National Lawyers Guild, P. O. Box 02135, Cleveland, Ohio 44102. Prices are $1.00 for individual copies, and $.75 per copy for orders of 50 or more.

ALIMONY

After the divorce, one spouse may still have to help support the other by paying alimony. In Ohio, either the husband or the wife can get alimony. Alimony is not always given these days, and when it is, it is usually not a large amount. Alimony can be paid in different forms. It can be property such as a house, car, or furniture. It can be money paid in a lump sum or some each week. It can also pay your attorney's fees.

How Much Alimony

You should decide how much alimony you need. To do this, make a list of all the money you need to live on. Include in this list food, rent, clothing, medical and dental care, transportation, and anything else you spend money on. Do not cheat yourself.

Make a list of all the money you are receiving. Include in this list wages and other job benefits, savings, income from property, social security, and anything else.

If this is not enough money for you to live on, think of ways you can make more. This may include getting a job, getting a better job, getting training so you can get a good job. If you still do not have enough money to live on, you can ask your husband to pay alimony or ask the judge to order alimony to help you.

Alimony may not be a good way to support yourself. After a while, your husband may stop paying. If this happens, courts are not very belpful in making him pay. For this reason, you should always find some other way of supporting yourself, if you can.

Sometimes the best way to use alimony is to help you get back on your feet financially. For example, you may want to get alimony for a few years while you go back to school, or until you find a job, or while you are staying home taking care of the children. Once you can support yourself, you can have the alimony stopped or reduced.

Many women will not be able to support themselves for one reason or another. If this is the case, long term alimony may be the only answer. Do not worry about asking for alimony and your share of the property. You deserve something for the years you put into the marriage.

How the Court Decides ou Alimony

If you and your husband do not agree on the amount of alimony, the judge will decide the amount for you. Things the judge will look at include:

1. How much money each of you has.

2. Your husband's and your ages and health.

3. How much each of you will get when you retire.

4. How long you have been married.

5. Who has custody of the children, and if s/he will have to stay home with them.

6. How much the family is used to living on.

7. How much school and training you and your husband have.

8. How much money you and your husband have and how much you owe.

9. How much property each of got married.

you

had when you

10. The unpaid work of the housewife.

The law says these are the things the judge should look at. The judge will probably look at some other things too. The judge may look at who is at fault in the divorce. If the judge does not like the way you live, s/he may give you less alimony. Some judges do not give women alimony because they feel women can always get welfare. It is good to remember that each judge looks at what s/he thinks is important .. be sure to tell the judge what you think is important.

Changing the Alimony

Alimony will stop if the wife dies and it usually stops if she gets married again. Other times alimony can be changed are:

1. The wife is making more or less money.

2. The husband is making more or less money.

3. The husband has remarried and has other people to support.

4. The wife is not getting child support anymore.

The husband and wife can agree to change the alimony themselves, or the judge has the power to change it. To ask the court to change the alimony, you must file a Motion to Modify. The court will then have a hearing to decide whether the alimony should be changed.

CHANGING YOUR NAME

After the divorce, you can go back to the name you used before you were married. In Ohio, you can use any name you want but you cannot change your name to cheat anyone.

The best way to change your name is to do it in the divorce. You can ask the judge to put in the divorce or dissolution papers that you are going back to your old name. If you have children, you should have a good reason for changing your name. The judge will want you and the children to have the same name. Another way your name may be changed is by filing a paper in Probate Court.

The only way to change the name of a child under 18 is to file a paper in Probate Court. Both parents must agree to the name change.

TEMPORARY ORDERS

After you have filed for your divorce, you may feel that you need protection or support while the divorce is going on. You can ask the court to order your husband to:

1. Pay you support (temporary alimony).

2. Give you temporary custody of the children (temporary custody).

3. Stop beating you and the children (temporary restraining order).

4. Leave the house (motion to vacate).

5. Not sell or destroy your belongings (another kind of temporary restraining order).

These orders are called temporary orders. You can only get these orders after you have filed your divorce.

To get a temporary order, you must file a Motion. This tells the court what you want. You must also file a paper (affidavit) telling the court why you want the order. An affidavit is a written statement which you swear tells the truth.

It is important to remember that often temporary orders are not very useful. It will be hard to get the court to enforce the orders. Therefore, you should try to find other means of support or protection. (For support groups and emergency help, see Appendix.)

CONTR

Temporary Alimony

You may feel that you need money for yourself and your children while the divorce is going on. You can ask the court to order your husband to pay you or your children enough money to live on until the divorce is over. This is called temporary alimony or alimony pendente lite.

In uncontested cases, it sometimes takes almost as long to get a temporary alimony order as it does to get a divorce.

There is usually no hearing when you ask for temporary alimony. If your husband does not want to pay, he may ask the court for a hearing.

Temporary Custody

If

you fear tha your husband cannot care for the children or that he will take the children and leave the state, you can file a motion for temporary custody.

There will be a hearing. Until the judge makes a decision, you cannot stop your husband from taking the children. If you do get a temporary custody order, your husband can be arrested for taking the children.

Temporary Restraining Order -Physical Abuse

If you fear that your husband will beat you or the children, you can ask the court for a temporary restraining order (TRO). A TRO is a paper that says your husband should not beat you or the children. The court will give this order right away without a hearing. The police will be more likely to help you if you have a TRO.

A TRO is usually not very useful. Most likely, you will have no time to call the police when your husband is hurting you or the children. Even if you do call the police, it will probably be too late. You should try to protect yourself and the children in other ways. The best thing to do is to move in with a friend or call one of the Shelters listed in the Appendix and not let your husband know where you

are.

If you have a lawyer, have her/him call the local police department and tell them you have a TRO. If you or your children are injured, go to a hospital emergency room or the Free Clinic so that a record of your injuries is made.

Motion to Vacate

If you want your husband to leave the house, you can file what is called a motion to vacate. The court will only order your husband to leave if he is hurting you or your children. Sometimes the court will grant the motion to vacate, but will not force the husband to move out. However, filing a motion to vacate often results in his leaving on his own. In Cuyahoga

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