Abstract The paper defines spousal maintenance, (or alimony as it is known in the United States) and the two factors that must be taken into consideration under Australian law. The paper explains these factors that are the capacity for the maintenance to be paid, and the need for the maintenance to be received. The paper discusses the government's intention in creating the legislation that outlined spousal maintenance and then relates the conventional view of spousal maintenance prior to the inception of the Family Law Act 1975. The paper contrasts this to the conventional view of spousal maintenance and outlines the current legislation in relation to this topic. The paper concludes that current legislation requires reformations to allow the emergence of acceptable outcomes of all spousal maintenance cases heard within Australia.
From the Paper "Spousal maintenance is an outdated theory which perseveres in prolonging fragments of discarded associations of two parties formerly engaged in marriage. The concept is antithetical towards the economic autonomy of the two parties as incorporated in s.81 of the Family Law Act 1975, which states that it is the duty of the court to end financial relations between separated spouses. Spousal maintenance also dissuades the parties from engaging in new relationships as a result of the formation of pecuniary obstacles and disincentives. (Priestly, 2003)."
Abstract The paper deals with the issue of who pays taxes on employee benefits that are transferred in a divorce agreement. It covers stock options, IRA's, qualified plans and QDRO's.
From the Paper "The issue of how to treat alimony for tax purposes comes up pretty frequently. The basic rule is that the person receiving the alimony payment must include it in their gross income and the person making the payments gets a deduction for their adjusted gross income. The IRS then goes on to clarify what payments made between the former couple are considered alimony. The IRS says that to be alimony there cannot be an agreement that the payment is not alimony, the two former spouses cannot live in the same household, there is no contingent liability to make payments after the death of the payee's spouse and that the payment must be in cash. Any transfer of property other than cash to a spouse under the divorce decree or an agreement is not a taxable event. The transferor would not be entitled to a deduction and the transferee does not recognize income."
Abstract The role of women in the home and in the workplace began to change in the Twentieth Century. Women began entering the workforce in greater numbers, with the result that accepted roles in both families and organizations faced significant upheaval. The paper shows that the level of upheaval, however, is borne primarily by women, who remain burdened with the expectation that they will assume the primary responsibility for family duties, while conforming to male-dominated organizational behaviors. Despite significant gains made by women toward equality in both the workplace and the home over the past 30 years, many inequalities still exist, including wage issues, dress and deportment expectations, etc. These similarities and differences in gender and stereotypes are presented in the paper, with examples being taken from the movie, "One Fine Day".
From the Paper "The one stereotype that is shared by both Melanie and Jack is that work will always take priority over family in a crunch. For both characters, each must address a critical work situation in one day while finding alternate arrangements for their respective children. At no point do either indicate that an option exists, and both comment that they will be fired if they don?t keep their respective work commitments. The underlying message is that work in America is more important than children, and this unfortunate workplace reality is shared by both men and women."
Abstract The paper discusses how for individuals who practice a homosexual lifestyle, the issue of gay rights looms large. Legislation passed in favor of or against gay rights has a real impact on the quality of their lives, i.e., spousal medical benefits, alimony-like support, being able to keep one's job or getting fired, the right to marry and the ability to adopt children. For the social and religious conservatives, the impact of the passing or the restricting of various gay rights is not as profound. They may be uncomfortable with having to recognize a marriage, for instance, between two males or two females, but gay rights legislation isn't going to profoundly affect the quality of their life.
