Of all the challenges men face in divorce, alimony is one of the toughest. Alimony payments not only affect your ability to move forward with life, but they also carry significant emotional impact.
You can take control of the situation by working with an experienced alimony lawyer in Upper Marlboro, MD at the Carmiece Graves Law Firm. With an extensive background in finance and accounting as well as legal expertise, Carmiece Graves and her team know how to protect your financial interests in alimony determinations.
Understanding Alimony in Maryland
Alimony refers to an allowance the court orders one spouse to pay the other after divorce or during legal proceedings. When you make more money than your former partner, monthly alimony payments are supposed to enable your lower-income spouse to maintain a standard of living similar to what they enjoyed during marriage. Alimony is a separate issue from child support, even though paying one type of support affects your ability to pay the other.
Many factors play a role in the decisions about whether the court will order alimony in your case, and the amount and duration of payments. If you develop a marital settlement agreement with your spouse so that you can file an uncontested divorce, that agreement will specify your arrangements for alimony. A skilled alimony lawyer understands how to present evidence and make effective arguments to ensure that your side of the story is given fair weight when it comes to alimony decisions, whether those decisions are negotiated out of court or determined by a judge in court.
Types of Alimony in Upper Marlboro, MD
Maryland laws grant courts the power to order both men and women to pay spousal support to their partners. At present, Maryland recognizes three different types of alimony.
Pendente Lite Alimony
Pendente lite alimony is a legal term for temporary alimony the court might order you to pay or receive during legal proceedings, before your divorce is finalized. Pendente lite alimony allows a dependent spouse to maintain something close to their accustomed lifestyle while the divorce proceeding progresses. After divorce cases settle, Maryland courts generally terminate these temporary pendente lite alimony payments but may put other alimony arrangements in place.
Rehabilitative Alimony
You might pay or receive rehabilitative alimony payments for a limited time after the divorce marriage to allow time for training or education to become more self-sufficient. For example, a court might award rehabilitative alimony so that a spouse with lower earning potential can finish college or develop specialized job skills.
Indefinite Alimony
Courts sometimes award indefinite alimony–which essentially amounts to permanent alimony–if your marriage lasted for a long time and age or illness prevents one of you from supporting yourself through employment. Indefinite alimony may continue until the person receiving it dies, remarries, or cohabitates with another person.
Factors That Determine Alimony in Maryland
The courts take several factors into account before granting alimony, so if you are developing a marital settlement agreement, you may want to consider the same factors. However, courts do not maintain a specific set of rules that make you automatically eligible for alimony, so your negotiated agreement does not need to follow strict guidelines with regard to alimony.
Alimony decisions are based on unique circumstances that apply to your specific case. That’s why it is so critical to ensure that your divorce attorney knows all the relevant facts and has evidence to demonstrate those facts.
Before awarding alimony, the courts may analyze:
- Duration of your marriage
- Reasons for your divorce
- Each of your financial needs and resources
- Physical and mental conditions of each of you
- Standard of living established during your marriage
The Men’s Divorce Lawyers at the Carmiece Graves Law Firm Fight for Fair Alimony in Upper Marlboro, MD
Hiring an experienced Maryland alimony lawyer is one of the most important actions you can take to protect your interests during a divorce. At the Carmiece Graves Law Firm, our team understands how to strategically examine the details of your case to devise the right plan to pursue your goals regarding alimony and other critical issues.
Call us today at (240) 573-7153 to learn more about how we could protect your financial and emotional future during and after divorce.