Is it possible to estimate ss? I need to know where I stand!

[twice_bitten]

Separated since August 2008. Was married 5 yrs, lived together 1 year prior to that. Spouse's income used to be about 1/3 of mine. Spouse quit job with company car summer 2007. Spouse took much lower paying job fall 2007 - no vehicle. Spouse quit job in April 2008 to run new business (mostly financed by me). Has been working full time since then, but with no pay until now.

Spouse and I have first and second mortgage on house, with total owing at maximum allowable amount. Both have maxed out all other available credit. Most of debt was incurred to pay for new business and to run household while waiting for business to reach profitability, which it is just starting to do now, six months after opening. Currently there is no equity in the business (amount of debt in Small Business Loan far outweighs value of company).

I have well paying full-time job, with significant amount of divisible pension from workplace plan. I have been carrying majority of household expenses for several months, with rest being paid mostly from my personal credit.

House is for sale, but not generating much interest in the current economic environment. We will be lucky to even get enough to pay the two mortgages and cover selling costs - that is if we can even sell at all. In other words, there is no real equity in the property.

SO:

Spouse currently has no or little income.
Spouse has no other assets.
Spouse's has significant debt.

I have well-paying job.
I have a significant amount of divisible pension.
I have no other assets.
I have more than twice the debt of my spouse.
My personal debt approximately equals the amount of divisible pension.

Is it possible to determine how much I might be expected to pay in support? I am not looking to shirk my responsibility. I just want a fair and just settlement, and I would like to know what to expect and to be able to plan out where I go from here.

If it makes any difference, I am currently paying cs to spouse from a previous marriage. I also have one child from first marriage living full time with me, and to whom my current spouse has been acting as de facto parent (in parentis locii ?). Could my ss obligation be offset by my cs obligation to my previous spouse, and could I make a claim for cs from my current spouse?

twice_bitten

[singledad99]

The best for you two is to sit down and work things out as you are better off paying her little higher support than feeding the lawyers. I would start with filling out the financials for both parties and then negotiate with a very positive attitude.

Your marriage is considered a very short marriage and if you can prove that she was never financially dependent on you and you never required her to quit her job for the family, the onus of proving the need for SS will fall on her. In the end, you might have to pay her support until her business is up and running. I believe the CS you are paying will be deducted from your income for SS calculation purposes and the child who is with you will his/her expenses will also be taken into account.

There is no hard and fast rule for SS. Its all discretionary based on needs and entitlement. However, you can download Spousal Support Guidelines from the internet (just google it). There are various scenarios in the guidelines. I think you could use scenario with no children and scenario where the payor has the custody. I use a very rough formula to calculate a very basic SS figure which is:

(Your income - CS being paid - CS (would be payable otherwise for the kids with you) - her income) x 2% x years of marriage

The above formula is assuming that she was acting as a parent to your kid. Take the second CS out for no kids scenario. Just make sure that you use either all annual or all monthly figures.

Best of luck.

[twice_bitten]

Thanks singledad99. Not sure if "reasonable" discussion is possible at the moment. There's just too much anger and feeling of entitlement on spouse's part right now. However, had similar experience with first spouse and managed to reach a relatively fair agreement with help of a mediator, who explained legal rights and obligations of both parties, much to the very evident dismay of first spouse. Even so, I made and continue to make some significant concessions to this day (10 years later!).
I am planning to attempt to negotiate this without mediation if possible. Any thoughts or advice?

[ANewLife]

In the reply from singledad99 it is quoted:

(Your income - CS being paid - CS (would be payable otherwise for the kids with you) - her income) x 2% x years of marriage

In my case, I would modify this formula to be:

(Your income - CS (would be payable otherwise for the kids with you) - her income) x 2% x years of marriage

as I d not have CS to pay from prior children. I will have both my children with me, so would deduct the CS (otherwise payable).

My question is based on the fact that I know her take home pay (not gross) although basically the same as she works PT (6 hrs per week), so should I also use my 'take home' pay (i.e. after tax or base it one my taxable income from last tax year)?

From the CS tables the calculations are done on taxable income (i.e. from last years tax return)? so it is best to use that?

I understand the common time basis to use (either monthly or annually for all numbers).

Thanks