Weird situation: Spousal support

My husband decided to move out of our home and get an apartment. My paycheck will not cover the housepayment, utilities, insurance, groceries, and he knew that when he left. He makes about 30 percent more than I do, and gets an additional $7000 from the Army every year. He just walked away from all his responsibilities.

He moved out because he had become addicted to internet porn and preferred webcamming and “online” sex with other women instead of our marriage. I begged him to go to counseling with me and he refused–said he was perfectly fine and needed no counseling. He also posted nude photographs of himself on the internet which were very embarrassing to me.

We have been married 4 years, and the house was mine before we married. He had lousy credit and could not get a loan in his name, so everything we bought had to be bought under my name. I had to take out all the equity and refinance the house in order to buy the things he wanted during our marriage, so my house payment is now much more than it used to be. I was debt-free when we married: now I owe nearly $100,000.

I know now that he was just a con man and I got taken. But, is there any hope for my getting spousal support or his having to pay part of the debts? Would I be able to get spousal support from him even though our salaries are not that much different?

If you can prove that you are a dependant spouse and are actually and substantially in need of support from him, and that he has the ability to pay.
The debts can also be distributed as part of equitable distribution.

It was totally his decision to abandon our marriage. I am the “innocent” party–he’s the one who has “other interests.” He has a good job and does make a bit more than I do, plus he gets an annual lump sum payment from being in service.

We were just making ends meet when I was paying the bills with both incomes. Even then he was blowing around $400 a month on his “habits.” He knew that there was not enough extra money between us for apartment rent, utilities, and separate food when he made his decision to leave. It hardly seems right that actions he took of his own volition could cause me to lose my home and he gets away scot-free. Isn’t an innocent spouse protected in any way in a situation like this?