Article - Family Law
§11–106.
(a) (1) The
court shall determine the amount of and the period for an award of
alimony.
(2) The court may
award alimony for a period beginning from the filing of the pleading
that requests alimony.
(3) At the conclusion
of the period of the award of alimony, no further alimony shall accrue.
(b) In making the
determination, the court shall consider all the factors necessary
for a fair and equitable award, including:
(1) the ability
of the party seeking alimony to be wholly or partly self-supporting;
(2) the time necessary
for the party seeking alimony to gain sufficient education or training
to enable that party to find suitable employment;
(3) the standard
of living that the parties established during their marriage;
(4) the duration
of the marriage;
(5) the contributions,
monetary and nonmonetary, of each party to the well-being of the family;
(6) the circumstances
that contributed to the estrangement of the parties;
(7) the age of
each party;
(8) the physical
and mental condition of each party;
(9) 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;
(10) any agreement
between the parties;
(11) the financial
needs and financial resources of each party, including:
(i) all income
and assets, including property that does not produce income;
(ii) any award
made under §§ 8-205 and 8-208 of this article;
(iii) the nature
and amount of the financial obligations of each party; and
(iv) the right
of each party to receive retirement benefits; and
(12) whether the
award would cause a spouse who is a resident of a related institution
as defined in § 19-301 of the Health - General Article and from
whom alimony is sought to become eligible for medical assistance earlier
than would otherwise occur.
(c) 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.