Well, then it seems like a reasonable question to ask why you allowed this behavior from your EX for so long if it was so appalling to you. If her sleeping all day, not chipping in with the household duties, spending more than she made, not taking care of her child and so on was so unacceptable to you why didn't you do anything to change it?
It seems to me you were okay while it was happening but now that she is gone you want to use it against her. You chose not to take a better paying job out of the area. Fine. I get that you did not want to leave your family behind and you were trying to honor what your W wanted. If that was the case why didn't you request she begin to bring in more money?
See what I am saying? If ALL of these line items were so bad while they were happening and you saw no signs of improvement why didn't you do anything to try and change the living situation for the better? And if you did try and change it and nothing improved why did you continue to tolerate it when you clearly find it intolerable now?
To be realistic you can't even answer these questions to a bunch of strangers yet you are all hell bent on going to a trial where you will not have the option of skirting these types of questions.
Two years is a long time to be on unemployment and no matter how well you manage your money that most probably will be taken in consideration. If you cannot find a job in your field you should consider (A) going back to school (B) changing fields (C) or taking a lower paying job in your current field. Unemployment can't last forever, right?
You can dish it out but when we try and reply with reasonable questions as to why you become awfully defensive and use bizarre comparisons.
