Spousal Support in Forest Hill, MD

Legal help with spousal support for Forest Hill, Maryland residents from The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon in Towson.

Service areas / Forest Hill / Spousal Support

The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC provides spousal support assistance for people in Forest Hill. The information below explains the issues to discuss with an attorney and connects you with the firm’s original Maryland service guide.

Working with our Towson office from Forest Hill

Forest Hill is in Harford County, Maryland. The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC serves this area from 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204. This is the firm’s Towson office, not a separate office in this community.

Maryland law applies throughout the service area. Where a matter must be filed depends on the type of proceeding and the facts, not simply on the location of the attorney’s office. Discuss residence, existing orders, and any pending case at your consultation.

Read the Harford County service-area guide for the original local context.

Alimony in Maryland is not automatic, it is not a percentage, and there is no calculator that produces the answer. A court weighs a list of statutory factors and decides what is appropriate on the facts. Two families with similar incomes can reach very different results.

What alimony is meant to do shapes everything else: in most cases it is intended to help a financially dependent spouse become self supporting, not to equalize incomes permanently.

The three kinds of alimony

Alimony pendente lite

Temporary support while the divorce is pending, awarded to maintain the status quo until the case is resolved. It is decided at a pendente lite hearing and it does not predict what the final award will be.

Rehabilitative alimony

The most common form. Support for a defined period while the receiving spouse gets the education, training or work experience needed to become self supporting. The period is set with a purpose in mind, and the amount and duration are usually the heart of the negotiation.

Indefinite alimony

Awarded in limited circumstances. A court may award indefinite alimony only if either:

the party seeking alimony cannot reasonably be expected to make substantial progress toward becoming self supporting because of age, illness, infirmity or disability; or
even after the party makes as much progress toward self support as can reasonably be expected, the respective standards of living of the two parties would be unconscionably disparate.

Unconscionably disparate is a demanding standard, and it is fact intensive. Long marriages with a large and durable income gap are the usual setting, but no gap guarantees the result.

The factors a court considers

Maryland courts weigh a statutory list that includes:

The ability of the party seeking alimony to be wholly or partly self supporting
The time needed to gain sufficient education or training to find suitable employment
The standard of living established during the marriage
The duration of the marriage
The monetary and non-monetary contributions of each party to the family
The circumstances that contributed to the estrangement of the parties
The age of each party
The physical and mental condition of each party
The ability of the paying party to meet their own needs while meeting the other’s
Any agreement between the parties
The financial needs and resources of each party, including income, assets, obligations and retirement benefits
Whether an award would affect a party’s eligibility for medical assistance

Note the sixth factor. Marital misconduct is no longer a ground for divorce in Maryland, but the circumstances that led to the breakdown of the marriage remain relevant here.

Proving the numbers

Alimony disputes are usually disputes about income and expenses rather than about law. Where a spouse is self employed, controls a closely held business, or is voluntarily underemployed, establishing actual earning capacity takes work. That is a discovery exercise, and in complex cases an expert one. See also high asset and business owner divorce.

Modification and termination

Whether alimony can be changed later depends on the order and on any agreement. Court ordered alimony may generally be modified on a showing of changed circumstances, but parties can agree to make alimony non-modifiable, and that agreement will usually be enforced. This is one of the terms most worth understanding before signing.

Alimony generally terminates on the death of either party or on the remarriage of the recipient, unless the parties agreed otherwise. See enforcing or modifying an order.

Alimony and the rest of the case

Alimony is decided alongside property division, and each affects the other. A larger property award may reduce the need for support. Alimony paid and received also enters the child support calculation.

Official Maryland resources

Talk with a Towson family law attorney

Every divorce and custody matter turns on its own facts. The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC offers a free consultation so you can get straight answers about your situation before you decide what to do next.

Call (410) 847-9075 or request a consultation online. The office is at 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204.

This page provides general information about Maryland law. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Maryland law changes, and how it applies depends on the facts of your case.

Spousal Support resources

Read the full Maryland spousal support guide. Bring relevant agreements, court papers, financial records, and a list of questions that relate to your situation. If you have received papers with a deadline, tell the office when you contact us.

Other services in Forest Hill

Discuss your situation

or call (410) 847-9075. Advice about your particular matter requires a consultation. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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