Alimony

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NOTICE: None of these questions and answers constitute legal advice. To obtain legal advice, consult with an attorney. This is especially important in divorce and family law matters, in which outcomes are often peculiar to the particular facts and circumstances of the case.

Alimony is the payment of money for support of a spouse or former spouse at stated periods (monthly or weekly, usually) during the joint lives of the parties so long as they are separated.

Alimony is paid to support a spouse or former spouse. Child support is paid to support minor children.

The court may order retroactive alimony back to the date the complaint or petition seeking alimony was filed.

No, alimony is no longer taxable to the payee or deductible by the payor.

There is no statutory limit, except death or remarriage of the payee. The court can order alimony for a fixed length of time, or for an indefinite period. Even when the court orders alimony for a fixed length of time, the order can be modified to extend alimony for additional time, or for an indefinite period.

Court-ordered alimony terminates upon remarriage of the recipient spouse. Maryland’s highest court has decided that a separation agreement must contain express and clear language reflecting the parties’ intention that alimony will continue after remarriage of the recipient spouse. Otherwise, remarriage terminates the alimony obligation.

The court may award alimony for an indefinite period, if the court finds that: (1) due to age, illness, infirmity or disability, the party seeking alimony cannot reasonably be expected to make substantial progress toward becoming self-supporting; or (2) even after the party seeking alimony will have made as much progress toward becoming self-supporting as can reasonably be expected, the respective standards of living of the parties will be unconscionably disparate.

The Maryland Court of Appeals consistently has declined to adopt a hard and fast rule regarding any disparity in income for purposes of awarding indefinite alimony. Each case depends upon its own circumstances. However, gross disparities in income levels frequently have been found unconscionable and have supported the award of indefinite alimony.

Even economic self-sufficiency does not bar an award of indefinite alimony if there nonetheless is an unconscionable economic disparity in the parties’ standards of living after divorce. In short, the determination of unconscionable disparity is made on a case-by-case basis.

Yes. The court can modify an alimony award upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances justifying a modification.

Yes. Under Maryland law, a court cannot modify alimony if an agreement of the parties specifically states that the provisions with respect to alimony or spousal support are not subject to any court modification.

Maryland courts have said that alimony and a monetary award are “significantly interrelated and largely inseparable,” but that a monetary award is not a “form of, nor substitute for” alimony. In other words, the court must consider the two issues together in order to achieve a fair result.

No.

The court considers the following factors in making an award of alimony: (1) ability of the party seeking alimony to be wholly or partly self-supporting; (2) time needed for education or training; (3) the ability of the party from whom alimony is sought to meet that party’s needs while meeting the needs of the party seeking alimony; (4) the standard of living of the parties during marriage.

In addition, the court looks at many of the same factors considered in making a monetary award. Here is a list of some of these factors: (1) the duration of the marriage; (2) the contributions, monetary and nonmonetary, of each party to the well-being of the family; (3) the circumstances that contributed to the estrangement of the parties; (4) the age of each party; (5) the physical and mental condition of each party; (6) any agreement between the parties; (7) the financial needs and financial resources of each party, including: (i) all income and assets, including property that does not produce income; (ii) any monetary award or use and possession award; (iii) the nature and amount of the financial obligations of each party; and (iv) the right of each party to receive retirement benefits.

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