Alimony is often thought to be a payment made from divorced men to their ex-wives to help support them financially. However, these days, more men are getting alimony than ever. Though you need to talk to a divorce lawyer to find out if you are likely to receive spousal support, you can get an idea of whether you may be eligible to get alimony as a male.

The whole idea behind alimony is that no one should have to leave the marriage with a lot more money than the other. You should feel just about equal to your spouse, both during marriage and divorce. For this reason, if your wife makes more money than you, it is possible that you will receive alimony. This is especially the case if you have as many expenses as she does, and therefore less disposable income. During the marriage, all income was likely pooled so that you both had equal rights to spend money. This should not change during divorce, so you may get alimony from your wife, allowing you to continue your lifestyle once the marriage is over.

If you have been a stay-at-home dad for years, you definitely have a shot at alimony, just like many stay-at-home mothers do. This is because you did not have a chance to make the same amount of money as your wife while raising the children. This in itself is a full-time job, so it is not fair to walk away from the marriage with nothing to show for your hard work when it comes to finances. In addition, you likely saved the family a lot of money on childcare, which should be factored in when determining your contribution to the household.

Now that you are getting divorced, you may have to get a job. But this can be hard to do if you did not go to college because you were raising the children, or if you simply never had to worry about starting a career because your wife was making enough. If you did have a career before marriage, you are likely now out of the loop after taking time off to raise the children. Plus, if you ever had to move due to your wife’s job, and therefore lost your job or place in school, you had to start over elsewhere. This is why you are not going to be held to the same standard as your wife when it comes to finances, since it can be hard to find a job after all this.

If you have no idea how you will be able to pay the bills after divorce, talk to your lawyer about your chances of getting alimony. Let him or her know the situation, as well as the reasons you will probably not be able to support yourself without some financial help from your wife. Alimony is dependent on the financial circumstances of your marriage, not gender.