PA Superior Court Rules Stay at Home Mom Properly Denied Alimony Because of Amount She Received in Equitable Distribution.

In Robert v. Martin, 2024 Pa. Super. LEXIS 300 (2024), the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s decision to deny Wife alimony. The Wife stayed at home during the marriage to raise the parties’ children. She now earns $12.00 per hour; her Husband earns $110,00.00 per annum. The parties enjoyed an “upper middle class” lifestyle during the marriage. The Divorce Hearing Officer (DHO) denied Wife her request for alimony. The DHO reasoned that Wife had received $140,000.00 in alimony pendente lite during the divorce case, and about $400,000.00 in equitable distribution – including $95,000.00 in proceeds from the sale of the marital home, $47,000.00 from the parties’ checking and savings accounts, and sixty percent of the Husband’s retirement accounts. An important part of determining whether to award alimony is whether the requesting party’s needs can be met through equitable distribution:

“Moreover, alimony following a divorce is a secondary remedy and is available only where economic justice and the reasonable needs [*6] of the parties cannot be achieved by way of an equitable distribution award and development of an appropriate employable skill.”

Robert v. Martin, 2024 Pa. Super. LEXIS 300, *5-6 citing to Conner v. Conner, 2019 PA Super 251, 217 A.3d 301, 315 (Pa.Super. 2019)

According to the Superior Court, the DHO properly considered the amount Wife was receiving in equitable distribution and determined that her reasonable needs were achieved through equitable distribution.

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