The Delaware section of this website shows a likely scenario to Kail the Garbage Pail:
http://www.realworlddivorce.com/Delaware
SCENARIO 1 (Professional Wife and Slacker Husband)
A 35-year-old female hand surgeon [or Reality TV star] earning $325,000 per year marries a 33-year-old photographer [AirForce Man]. She sets up her husband with a photo studio and $100,000 of equipment, but he works just a few hours per week. They have a one-year-old child who is cared for by a nanny. The father is often home with the baby and nanny, but he spends most of his at-home time watching TV and surfing the Internet, leaving the child-rearing chores to the nanny. With the mom at work and/or taking care of the baby, the dad begins an affair with a young fashion model. After two years of marriage, the mom sues for divorce, custody, and child support.
Kerr says that this kind of case, in which the mother may pay the father, is "more common these days". Do the judges apply the law in a gender-neutral fashion in Delaware? "Yes," says Kerr, "but men are less likely to get alimony because they are not as likely to ask for it. Men and women have different ideas regarding the concept of receiving support from an ex-spouse."
Kerr said "You're looking at a shared 50/50 parenting time arrangement. Probably on a 2-2-3 schedule moving to a 2-2-5-5 schedule when the child is older." How about cash transfers? The simple online calculator shows that with a 50/50 parenting time arrangement (putting "0.5" children into each parent's "Number of Children Due Support" box) and zero income for the father, the mother pays him $1557 per month ($18,684 per year). If she could obtain instead an 83/17 arrangement as would be standard in New York her payments would fall to $459 per month ($5508 per year). Thus litigating for sole custody would have a maximum cash value to the mother of $223,992 over 17 years, much less than in many other states. Any income for the father would reduce these payments due to Delaware's "income shares" child support system.
If the father's current photography business is not profitable, Kerr says that income will be imputed to the father based on "[official Bureau of Labor Statistics] wage and salary surveys. Also, they can look at his tax return and see what deductions can be removed." Who presents an argument regarding imputed income? "Generally this is presented by an attorney," says Kerr, "but you could hire a vocational evaluator."
Given that the father has no money, will a judge order the surgeon to pay his legal fees? "It is unlikely that he could get her to pay due to the short [two year] length of the marriage," says Kerr. "Judges try to work out these inequalities through alimony and property division rather than with a fee award."
What kind of alimony and property division could the slacker father collect? "In a short-term marriage of two years or less they try to put you back where you were rather than letting anyone profit. He would get 50/50 of property accumulated during the marriage. Alimony varies with the judge but would be short-term at most."