Don't get married in Massachusetts unless you make less than your future wife.

Forget the The First Wives Club, now it's the second wives (and higher earning women) who are upset. From the The Boston Herald (via Instapundit):

Scanlon notes that current law, originally enacted to protect less-skilled women from being left destitute by husbands who walk out, reflects antiquated notions of a woman’s ability to earn a living in the 21st century.

Today, welfare laws reflect current expectations of self-sufficiency, allowing able-bodied persons to receive public support only temporarily. Yet, under Massachusetts divorce law, first spouses can collect alimony for life (even after the payer has retired) regardless of the duration of the marriage.

Thus, a man who earns more than his former spouse of less than five years may be forced to pay lifetime alimony, even if the ex is an educated 30-something fully capable of supporting herself.

It looks like the law may be changed but only because women might suffer from it as they may have to pay (gasp!) hundreds of dollars a week to an ex-husband like one woman in the story. A man mentioned in the story had to pay his ex $39,000 per year but somehow the only problem with that was that the second wife had to chip in when the law said her income had to be counted when the man was laid off. Yes, it's unfair that the second wife has to pay, but notice that when it was just the man, no one cared--maybe not even the man himself.

Now that these alimony laws are starting to affect women--both second wives and first wives who make more than their husbands, most likely the law will change. When men alone are being harmed, no such luck. If you want to protect yourself and see the law change, only marry a woman in MA who makes more than you. If divorced, sue for alimony. You just might get hundreds of dollars a week.