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Towson Divorce Lawyer | Alimony.

BALTIMORE COUNTY FAMILY LAWYER WITH DEEP ALIMONY EXPERIENCE

Amar S. Weisman is an award-winning divorce lawyer named by EXPERTISE.COM as one of the Top 12 Baltimore Divorce Lawyers; Attorney and Practice Magazine rated the Law Offices of Amar S. Weisman as a Top 10 in Family Law, 2019-2023; and by American Institute of Legal Counsel as Top 10 in Client Satisfaction for Family Law, 2016-2023; 10/10 Avvo and 9.7/10 by Google. During his sixteen-year career, Mr. Weisman has acquired a wealth of experience developing evidence-rich alimony cases for clients seeking and defending alimony claims.  

THE IDEAS BEHIND ALIMONY 

In Maryland, Alimony and Spousal Support are usually but not always determined by the Circuit Court. Alimony is based on notions of equity and fairness, that a dependent spouse should be supported by the primary wage earner during the divorce process and even afterward, with the length of alimony determined by the duration of the marriage and the financial disparity, among other factors. The three types of alimony are Temporary/Pendente Lite Alimony, Rehabilitative Alimony, and Indefinite Alimony. Whether to award alimony and for how long depends on the marriage length, the ability of the primary wage earner to pay, the demonstrated need of the dependent spouse, the extent of the financial disparity, and the reasons underlying the divorce. Although Parties to alimony claims almost always want to predict whether and how much alimony will be awarded with mathematical certainty, the truth is that Maryland Law gives magistrates and judges tremendous judicial discretion to evaluate each case individually with limited review by appellate courts. If your case concerns alimony, it needs to be managed properly from the beginning and consistently until the final decision is entered and/or the final payment is made. 

FAMILY LAW INTAKE AND EVIDENCE GATHERING 

When Amar S. Weisman undertakes an alimony case on behalf of a new client, there is invariably extensive document assembly regarding work histories, spending patterns, and educational and professional backgrounds, along with multiple client interviews to determine the standard of living that prevailed prior to separation and a basic understanding of future employability. The process requires gathering tax returns, bank statements, pay stubs, marital business records, and credit card spending, documenting how much the dependent spouse requires, short-term, medium-term, and long-term. 

THE LONG-FORM FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

The Long-Form Financial Statements submitted by the Plaintiff and the Defendant separately are the heart of every alimony case. The Long-Form Financial Statement is almost impossible to complete perfectly; there are more than 100 expense categories, the expense categories duplicate one another, and each category has separate slots for those expenses attributable to you/your spouse compared top to the children. More than 90% of Parties make unforced errors, like calculating expenses based on a 4-Week Month (Months have 4.3 Weeks, and every calculation based on a 4-Week Month is a bad mistake). After addressing categories of expenses that have remained unchanged for decades, there is a complete breakdown of your income, including federal and state taxes, Medicare, and deductions for things like union dues, retirement, and health insurance. Finally, there is a listing of assets and liabilities, including the fair market value of all vehicles, and the present values of all bank accounts and retirement accounts. Estimation is not an option. When Amar S. Weisman sees an opposing party’s financial statement is filled with nice round numbers— 100, 2500, 400, etc—it is the ultimate sign of weakness, laziness, and a doomed attempt to present guesses as truths. Every Financial Statement must be signed under the penalty of perjury. 

SUBPOENAS ARE NECESSARY TO AUTHENTICATE EVIDENCE IN ALIMONY CLAIMS

Appearing in Court with Tax Returns, Bank Statements, and Credit Card terms that were printed and generated by the Client will work out terribly in a serious alimony claim before a Magistrate or Judge is determined to apply the rules of evidence. In order to ensure that the documents can be authenticated and admitted into evidence, it is best to serve the accountant, bank, credit card company, and employer with a Subpoena and Notice to Take Deposition Duces Tecum via Private Process and receive all requested documents with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the corporation’s custodian records. There is no point in gathering evidence and “brainstorming” if your documents are unfit for admission for evidence because you were too lazy, too cheap, and/or too overwhelmed to properly get the evidence from the source and submit it with the certificate of authenticity as required by the rules of evidence. All records necessary to verify all expenses, income, assets, and liabilities on the financial statement should be acquired and presented to the Court in an organized manner. Amar S. Weisman has learned that alimony cases are usually won by the party that works harder preparing and presenting his or her case. 

INDEFINITE ALIMONY AND ALIMONY MODIFICATION 

The most significant, most challenging, and potentially the most rewarding alimony claim is for indefinite alimony. Indefinite alimony is awarded, in theory, until your spouse is dead. It is awarded if the financially dependent spouse can probably never earn enough money to become self-supporting in the standard of living that prevailed during the marriage. The purpose of indefinite alimony is to prevent an unconscionable disparity in the respective standards of living after everything is said and done—“he will always earn so much more than me no matter what I do” Indefinite alimony cases require monitoring and often litigation after the initial determination is made a the time of the. Judgment of Absolute Divorce. That is because people get sick, people get fired, and people retire (and/or fake it). The Spouse who has been ordered to pay alimony always wants to get it reduced and terminated because paying indefinite alimony is like crashing and totaling a very expensive car and yet still having to make payments for the rest of your life. 

TERMS OF REPRESENTATION FOR DIVORCE MATTERS INVOLVING ALIMONY 

Clients are required to pay an initial retainer when Amar S. Weisman begins representation, and the payment is for future legal services billed hourly against the retainer. The retainer is like a phone card where the minutes belong to the client until they are used. The retainer that Amar S. Weisman charges at the beginning of a divorce case ranges from $3,500.00 to $7,500.00, or more, depending on the complexity of the case. Cases involving alimony are usually complex. The Law Offices of Amar S. Weisman does not accept pro bono clients because you should not pay more, so nobody else can pay anything. 

CALL 410-321-4994 TO SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION 

The purpose of the initial consultation is not to provide free advice, but rather to determine whether you wish to hire Amar S. Weisman to represent you in your Family Law matter. You should contact the law firm after you have made the decision to get divorced, which is a personal decision, not a legal decision. There is no guarantee regarding outcomes, but the best outcomes come when the litigation is properly managed from the beginning to the end. If you just lost your family law matter in a final merits trial, there is probably nothing that we can do. The Law Offices of Amar S. Weisman does not accept clients who have recently terminated more than two respectable attorneys. 

The law firm is located in the heart of Towson near The Circuit Court For Baltimore County, Towson Town Center, Goucher College, and Towson University, at 1018 Dulaney Valley Road (MD-146), Second Floor Towson, MD 21204We represent clients throughout the Baltimore area, including Aberdeen, Abingdon, Baldwin, Bel Air, Bowleys Quarters, Brooklandville, Carney, Catonsville, Cockeysville, Edgewood, Essex, Garrison, Glen Arm, Greenspring Valley, Homeland, Hunt Valley, Hydes, the Joppa Road Corridor, Kingsville, Long Green, Lutherville, Middle River, Nottingham, Owings Mills, Parkville, Pikesville, Perry Hall, Reisterstown, Riderwood, Rodgers Forge, Rosedale, Ruxton, Sparks, Sparrows Point, Stoneleigh, Timonium, Towson, West Towson,  White Hall,  White Marsh, and the York Road corridor. We have also represented several out-of-state clients. The law firm does not guarantee the results in any matter. 

 

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