Alimony - Is it possible to get a "ball park" number without starting the process?

[ndj]

I have been married for 10 yrs and have a 6 yr old son for whom I do 99% of the parenting (not an exaggeration). I left my on-site job after having my son and though I currently do similar work from home I make only abt 1/20th what my husband makes. Despite having a graduate degree my earning potential is not great in my field. I absolutely cannot support my son by myself even given child support (what I can determine from online calculators). I had a consultation with a lawyer who gave me very little information about my likelihood on obtaining alimony. He just said "Maybe" and to find out more I would need to pay his retainer fee and proceed with the divorce. Is this normal? Is it at all possibly to find out a "ball park" amount and type of alimony that I could expect to get (if any) given my situation? At this point it makes the difference between deciding to divorce or not. I can't afford to make the wrong decision for my son's sake. Also, despite the fact that Florida is a no-fault state, CAN fault help in determination of alimony for a "grey area" marriage like mine? E.g. large amount of marital money spent on prostitution, more nights out drinking than at home ect. ect.

[Attorney Howard Iken]

I think you can mix in a drop of fault. But in general, that will not affect alimony in any significant way.

So I assume you left your job 6 years ago? You would probably qualify for some type of short term alimony, lasting a couple of years, upward to possibly ten years. The lower end is more probable.

Yes, It is possible to come up with a target amount, given enough information.