( CNN ) -- My marriage ended in 1995 after 23 years . My two daughters were adults . I knew I would be required to pay alimony , split the assets and provide health insurance for a reasonable period of time . But a marriage that had been difficult for many years was finally over , or so I thought . I did n't know I was about to enter the twilight zone of alimony-without-end in Massachusetts . The trial took three days , and a judgment took 10 months . My legal bills were nearly $ 150,000 . I was ordered to pay $ 865 a week -- forever . After 9/11 , my business suffered , as many did , and I could not afford the payments . I racked up credit card debt that terrified me . I had to file for bankruptcy . When I went to court to modify the alimony payment , the judge recused herself from the case , saying her husband had once played cards with the bankruptcy trustee , and I would have to start over . Something was very wrong , and I had to fix it . I launched a website , MassAlimonyReform.org , and with my current wife , Jeanie , and several couples in similar situations , began what became the alimony reform movement . At that time , I did n't know it was common for ex-wives to go back to court when a former spouse got married and get an increase in alimony if the new wife added income to the marriage . I also discovered that the lower-earning spouse needed to be supported to the standard of the lifestyle of the marriage -- and that judges could not put an end date to alimony , even for short-term marriages . All alimony was for life . Payers did not have the right to retire . Jeanie , who was divorced in New York after a 23-year marriage , was told she would get only three years of maintenance . While married to me in Massachusetts , she was forced to contribute income to supplement my payments to my ex-wife , or I would go to jail . She took on a second job . Despite scant media attention , our organization began to grow . Horror stories like mine were coming in daily , and people from all over the country began to join MAR . A major turning point came when The Boston Globe ran an article that described Massachusetts ' alimony law . That day , many women about to marry men who paid alimony called to say they were canceling their weddings . The Second Wives Club , headed by Deb Scanlan , was born . Massachusetts Rep. Steven Walsh advised me that legislators only acted during `` trouble in their village . '' We spent many months teaching those villagers who were suffering under the law how to persuade legislators to support the cause . In 2009 , after several attempts to pass reform , the Massachusetts judiciary chairmen created the Alimony Reform Task Force . Members included the Mass Bar , Boston Bar , Women 's Bar , American Association of Matrimonial Lawyerse , the chief justice of probate and me , the only nonlawyer . I provided descriptions of the problems and the lawyers provided the solutions . The chairs of the task force , Sen. Gail Candaras and Rep. John Fernandes , approved the bill , and it was passed unanimously in the House and Senate . It was signed by Gov . Deval Patrick on September 26 , 2011 , and went into effect on March 1 . Click here for the opposite view : Why the new law is bad for women . The new law provides guidelines and structure , consistency and predictability . It provides reasonable terms of alimony to help lower-earning former spouses adjust and return to the job market or live on their alimony , marital assets , Social Security and pensions from the marriage . It suspends , reduces or terminates alimony if a recipient spouse is co-habitating . Payers ' alimony obligation ends when they reach full retirement age , as defined by the Social Security Act . This allows a payer and payee to plan for retirement because they know ahead of time that it will end . There are guidelines for how long alimony must be paid based on the length of the marriage . Since the law was signed , I have had calls about payers ' ex-spouses getting married . Long-time alimony payers are finally free . Receiving spouses are going back to work . What was once an entitlement is now based on need and ability to pay . Judges have guidance they have been asking for and are happy to have . Attorneys can solve cases that went on forever , and Massachusetts residents are no longer afraid to get married for fear of unending litigation in case the marriage fails . No matter where you live in Massachusetts , the result will be the same . The mission I began is now spreading to many states all over the country . I have been consulting with divorce reform activists in Florida , Colorado , Oregon , Connecticut , New Jersey , Virginia and South Carolina . People need to be self-supporting after a term of alimony and not rely an ex-spouse . Alimony is support payment from a spouse , who has the ability to pay , to a spouse in need , for a reasonable length of time . That needs to be the rule , not the exception . In Massachusetts , it is the law . Now it is the duty of legislators in other states to listen to victims of ruinous alimony laws and do the same . Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steve Hitner .
Bill Hitner worked to change state alimony laws after he went bankrupt unable to pay . He remarried and some of his second wife 's income went to Hitner 's alimony payments . Hitner : New law has guidelines and a reasonable length of time for payments . He says many states are considering new laws that do n't financially benefit the payer .