In Maryland, the first kind of alimony you need to know about is temporary, or pendente lite, alimony (‘pendente lite’ means “during litigation”). This is a very big deal because if your wife has been at home and you’ve been paying all the bills, you may be ordered to pay alimony until there’s a final decision in your divorce. The court would consider two things:

• Need (loosely translated, this means how much does it cost to pay the normal expenses of your household and who is contributing to those expenses);

AND

• Ability to pay (this means how much can you manage to pay and still live on your own).

The final number depends on a lot of factors, but the prospect of paying can be pretty discouraging to a husband and father who agreed it was best to let his wife stay home to take care of the children, especially when the divorce is not his idea. The downside of temporary alimony is that even though it technically is not supposed to predict permanent alimony, it often plays a part. The good news is that if you are ordered to pay alimony, the amount you have to pay goes into the child support calculation and can usually be used to lighten your tax load, although you should always consult a tax professional (unless your lawyer is a CPA or a tax attorney, not even he or she can answer tax questions) to be sure.

The problem is, you don’t want what was the status quo when there was only one household to become the norm when there are two. The judge decides the question, and his or her decision is always hard to predict.

The risk factor of litigation and an unpredictable decision by a judge is one reason people often opt to work out their differences by a negotiated settlement. More about alimony in Maryland at the time of a final divorce in the next post.