Great. What if the spouse dies? Or they just stop paying and move to a different country because they’re a jerk? Or they lose their job and can’t support you in the future?

There’s a dozen ways relying on the courts can go wrong. Something to consider in a pro and con list.

Unrelated, if during the marriage the primary breadwinner loses their job and struggles to get back on their feet, the stay at home mom won’t be able to help pay a mortgage with 10 year old skills, as an example.

I have zero problems with stay at home moms. My mom was one and i LOVED spending lots of time with her growing up. But i think many people don’t have an HONEST conversation here that considers the worst case. It’s worth talking about. That’s all i can say. And it might be different if you have a village to support you if needed. Not everyone is blessed with that.

In my immigrant mom’s tragic case, she never really got her foot into the workforce because she wanted to stay home. Because of that her english skills never truly developed. My father became somewhat abusive toward her when i was a young teen. Even threatened to withhold her “allowance” sometimes. Could she have left if she wanted to? No. Legally yes, but practically? Nope. Chained to the marriage basically.