Use the money to buy some good anti virus plans for you and your wife, get a license for hitman pro and install hitman pro alert as well and finally put your wife through cyber security training so this won't happen again.
Paying these people is not the solution, it will just keep happening to people around the world when people fall for their demands.
@OP: IMO, This is the best solution for you if the files cannot be recovered.
There is no guarantee that the hacker will help you gain access to your data after you have paid them.