Reply #4: Hardly, I'd think

[union_maid]

If a person forfeits half of his or her savings in the dissolution of a short-term marriage in which there were no children then that person either made a bad agreement at some point or had a bad lawyer or did something so horrible during the marriage that damages are actually being awarded, which is pretty unusual these days. Even in states with community property laws, those laws don't apply to money acquired before the marriage.

In the case of Harrison Ford, the settlement sounds reasonable. All of their money was accrued during the marriage and his career was developed during the marriage. I say, more power to Mrs. Ford.

Most women, of course, don't fair as well. Jointly held assets will generally be split or some settlement based on that assumption will be reached. Separately held assets will not be split, but if a judge finds that those assets were accrued with money earned during the marriage, they could be vulnerable. If there are children the custodial parent may be able to remain in the family home until the children are grown. There will be child support if one parent has full physical custody. If one parent had been home and out of the work force for some time prior to the divorce temporary maintenance will probably be awarded, but only for a few years. If, however, the marriage is long..usually over 10 years...retirement income will be shared.

In the real world, most people don't have tremendous assets and the modern, more equal divorce laws are much less generous to women because they assume an equality that the older laws do not. For most people, divorce is a losing proposition financially whether you're a man or a woman. It used to be that the average woman's lifestyle would degrade after divorce where a man's would improve. I don't know if that's true anymore or not, with more women working during marriage and stronger child support collection laws and methods.