Alimony--Not Just Child Support--Can Make You Suicidal (Robin Williams)

So way before Robin Williams unfortunate Parkinson's diagnosis, he was slyly and sweetly, in his own dark yet witty way, talking in various interviews about why he was taking/choosing various bizarre roles or outright money maker type cameo parts (like his work as Teddy Roosevelt in the Night at the Museum kids movies -- which I like, actually!). And he was pretty clear -- two ex-wives, tons of alimony.

His kids by his past wives are grown, so it was not child support at this point in his life. It was alimony.

And because divorce laws in California are so horrible, and because alimony always fucks men every which way to Sunday, Robin had actually placed his family home on the market and taken that god-awful part in The Crazy Ones on TV this past season (for just $165,000 an episode, still more than he was making in most films he was being offered at this point in his career.)

I find that all so incredibly sad.

I think that child support is a good thing; if you contributed sperm, help pay for the kid's care and keeping until it's 18. But women abuse even that system terribly. And men find it very hard, if they are changing jobs and going through huge shifts in income levels, to get their payments reassessed and lowered even if they're not making any good money anymore and living in a crappy apartment. If you EVER had five minutes of making good money, the courts will keep you assessed at that rate of pay. (Case in point: Levi Johnston who fathered both Trig and Tripp Palin---Sarah Palin half-assedly wore pillows and pregnancy costumes at the last minute to try to pretend she was the one pregnant with Trig when her unwed cow of a daughter Bristol turned up six months preggers while Sarah was being positioned as the VP Repugnican candidate). For a few minutes Levi and Bristol were selling photos to tabloid mags, doing reality shows and "books," etc, and so he was assessed at owing about $1700 a month in child support for the two kids. He has tried every year since to get this amount changed since he has never made good money again, and even now, the Paylins are trying to keep Levi and Bristol's latest court appearance delayed with "mediation" so it never comes to light that Levi was assessed at paying for TWO brats during the time he had real money coming in.)

Anyway, Robin obviously was at the height of his earnings power for a long time and each ex-wife probably got loads of monthly alimony, separate from child support. And the alimony NEVER STOPS.

With his Parkinson's diagnosis and probable inability to work much longer, plus huge financial obligations to his fucking ex-wives (whom he really owed NOTHING), no wonder the poor guy couldn't see a way out. He just wanted to do little creative films and plays and challenge himself as an actor, and maybe do some comedy tours here and there. None of that pays much.

But NO.....the constant albatross around his neck in the form of the ex-wives put him at his wit's end, and there really was no way out. He was extremely generous over the years to charities and also to his friend Christopher Reeve, whom he studied with at Juilliard back in the day, and whose own SAG health insurance ran out about a year after Reeve's horrible horse riding accident that left him handicapped for life; and Robin helped out that family, big-time.

Alimony needs to be done away with, period. And child support should be far more fluid; go to a judge with six weeks worth of your latest paychecks or unemployment checks, and if you're making less than you did when child support was initially assessed for you, it should be a no brainer; you pay less to your baby mama, end of story.

As much as men have been beneficiaries of a lot of horrible laws that have hurt women over the centuries, some of the overreaching attempts to "equalize" things between the sexes have only abused the men worse than the women, in my opinion.

And I miss Robin Williams! A real talent with a huge soul.

I agree that alimony has got to go. Women can now work and support themselves, so there is no need for it. RIP, Robin Williams! :'(

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cosmictraveler
I agree that alimony has got to go. Women can now work and support themselves, so there is no need for it. RIP, Robin Williams! :'(

I agree. If you chose to be a SAHM, tough shit. You make due with the child support payments, but you don't get money just for marrying somebody so you can stay within the lifestyle you got "accustomed" to.

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Oh whatever. Abortion doctors are crimestoppers."
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I think it was his illness more than anything.

And he still did have ways to 'buy himself out' of all this. The kids were grown? He had enough money to get decent Atty's to get out of some of this stuff, or restructure it. The guy wasn't stupid.

Yeah, it might not be that easy, but neither is it that hard. And you can keep things tied up in court for years while you work and try to find 'the next big money making block buster' - which he could do because he was on that level.

Of course his illness may have been worse than he let on and he just wasn't up for trying any other plan ~

Alimony doesn't kick in CA until the marriage has lasted 10 years and is based on a percentage of income that is adjusted as the income changes or a mutually agreed amount. I dont think the man killed himself over alimony and child support. I would guess a history of depression had far more to do with it. As far as alimony and child support? Made bed lie. Nobody has to marry or breed.

I wished that Robin williams was happier. Hopefully hes in a better place now. I cant even watch any of his movies without crying. I miss him. He was my favorite actor.

Well, it came out that he and. His current wife weren't sleeping in the same room, so maybe he was looking down the barrel of alimony for a 3rd ex wife

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"If you can't feed your baby, then don't have a baby. And don't think maybe, if you can't feed your baby."
- The wisdom of the late Michael Jackson
"The mother of the year should be a sterilized woman with two adopted children." - Paul Ehrlich

My husband and I don't sleep in the same room because he snores and I must sleep or it triggers a seizure.
Anyway, I doubt alimony is much of a concern when a person has battled lifelong depression and just been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

I think Robin Williams's multi-decade coke habit had a lot more to do with his financial difficulties than alimony and child support.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/01/06/severe-mental-illness-ups-risk-for-substance-abuse/64161.html

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JoJo
I think Robin Williams's multi-decade coke habit had a lot more to do with his financial difficulties than alimony and child support.

It will fuck up your health bad, too.

When I was younger I ingested enough of this garbage. Coke is a foul gutter drug. Don't even go near it. The first time is fun - and it's all downhill from there. It just makes you jittery, for the most part. That 'initial rush' becomes ever more elusive. It's fucking garbage. Don't touch it.

I never got into it because - I simply did not like it. I was pretty broke at the time too, couldn't afford to make a habit of it. Did do enough here and there - it's fucking crap, it makes you feel sick which is why you keep shoving in more - to get that 'initial high' back, it doesn't last. And you begin to feel gross and sick rapidly. And the hangover is HELL.

YOU KIDS! -Shakes Fist- KEEP AWAY FROM THIS SHIT!

I give alot of credit to Stevie Nicks for quitting it. On the verge of serious health issues. And once you get bad addicted to it - it is very hard to quit. She did it though, woman's got character and smarts. And at the time when the serious side effects were largely unknown. She figured it out and was ahead of the curve on this.

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Presto
http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/01/06/severe-mental-illness-ups-risk-for-substance-abuse/64161.html

I'll believe that he was self-medicating, and I feel sympathy for him. However, drugs are an expensive habit, and I'd have to believe that it negatively affected his financies more than child support.