Hockey alimony… cold, hard cash
Mar 20th, 2009 by admin
The Hockey News is not the place I expected to find content for this blog, however this hockey headline is a reminder that folks who divorce are as diverse as our society as whole.
New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur just recently made headlines for breaking the NHL record for wins by a goalie. 
(It’s 552 wins, if you’re curious). Brodeur is now making headlines because a New Jersey appeals court ruled that the hockey star must pay his former wife spousal support (aka “alimony”) of $500,00 per year until 2020.
Do the math with me: 12 years of maintenance at $500,000 per year. That’s $6 million in spousal maintenance…a lot of cold, hard cash. Perhaps the silver lining is that it’s likely tax deductible.
However, before concluding that Brodeur is getting ripped off, I’d like to put the ruling in perspective. This award by the appeals court to Melanie DuBois is actually shorter than what the trial court awarded. That court found that permanent support was appropriate.
To further provide a reality check on the award, consider the ratio of Brodeur’s income to what he’s been ordered to pay. According to the article, Brodeur earns $5.2 million dollars per season. If you do the math, Ms. DuBois’s spousal support is just 10% of what her ex-husband earns from playing hockey. (As an aside, I bet he earns even more each year from endorsement deals…) For middle income couples, a spousal maintenance payment of just 10% of gross income would be quite low. Depending on the couple, one party could find themselves paying upwards of 20% of his or her gross income if such an amount is justified.
In Washington, spousal support is very specific to the couple and very flexible in terms of amount. Factors in considering whether spousal support is appropriate include:
- the resources of a party seeking maintenance,
- what he or she received in the divorce settlement,
- whether he or she needs time to retrain for job that will support him or her,
- the standard of living during the marriage, and
- the age, physical and emotional condition of the party who is asking for support.
Even though Ms. DuBois’s lawyer (Beatrice Kandell) spoke about the law of New Jersey, she was exactly correct in saying “There is no formula for alimony.”