When writing a letter to your representatives (state house representative and senators) please be direct, respectful and include some or all of  the following points (points 2 and 4 are critical):

1 . Today, both men and women can work and support themselves
2.  No fault divorces should have a no fault alimony system
3.  Alimony should not be forever, but only if one party needs help to get on their feet
4.  Alimony does not affect child support nor does it affect asset distribution
5.  Permanent alimony prevents remarriage of both parties. The recipients won’t remarry or loose alimony, the payers often can not afford to remarry
6.  Without fault at the divorce, you can not assign permanent penalties to one party for the rest of their lives
7.  This is increasingly becoming a gender neutral issue since 1/3 of households show the woman makes more than the man
8.  The number of men receiving alimony doubles every 5 years and is now estimated at 10% of all alimony awards
9.  Judges do not have any legislative oversight or direction from the legislature. This needs to be fixed
10. Permanent alimony can be assigned by a judge with as little as 12 years of marriage
11. The Texas law being supported by Families for Alimony Reform have been successfully in place for 15 years

You should also reference our group, Families for Alimony Reform.

You can download an extensive position paper here and read our rationale for the change!
A sample letter which was used and modified for one of our members can be downloaded!

So in writing a letter, you would use the following as an example: (note how I cut and pasted lines 1, 2 and 4.)

Dear Representative Jones,

I am writing to ask for your help in a situation that I find unacceptable. My friend, Bob Smith, has to pay alimony for the rest of his life. I know that both of them agreed to the divorce, and I know that blame is not assigned in assigned in a divorce decree. In fact, I found out that only one party can file for divorce and force it on the other. But this idea of permanent alimony is wrong. Today, both men and women can work and support themselves, no fault divorces should have a no fault alimony system and alimony should not be forever, but only if one party needs help to get on their feet.
Without fault at the divorce, you can not assign permanent penalties to one party for the rest of their lives and I find it appalling that he should pay a person that has agreed to separate lives for the rest of his life. She is more than capable of earning a good living, and to force him give up the rest of his life for an agreed split makes no sense. They split the assets, he pays his child support but he is tied to her forever. Why? Please listen to the representative of the Families for Alimony Reform as they help Bob try to get his life back.
Thank you for your time, and you or your representative can call me at any time
Sincerely,
Jane Doe
555-1212