Lynn v. Lynn

Citations

• 68 Pa. Super. 324
• 1917 Pa. Super. LEXIS 121

Syllabus

<p>Divorce — Alimony—Alimony pendente lite — Counsel fees — Divorce a mensa et thoro.</p> <p>In proceedings for divorce it is the duty of the court to make,a proper allowance to tire wife, if she be not herself of sufficient ability, to enable her to maintain or defend her suit having regard to the ability of her husband. The orders which a court makes of expenses to be allowed to a wife, during the proceedings, are in their nature interlocutory and often made upon the hearing of oral testimony, and as a general rule are purely within the sound discretion of the court.</p> <p>The amount of the allowance to be made for expenses, counsel fees and alimony pendente lite, being a matter with which the court is vested with discretion, the appellate court will not reverse except for a plain abuse of discretion.</p> <p>Where on a libel for1 divorce a mensa, et thoro by a wife against a husband on the ground of cruel and barbarous treatment, a rule is taken for counsel fees and alimony pendente lite, and the evidence indicates that the cause is to be bitterly contested, an order allowing the libellant $750 for counsel fees and $536 for legal expenses, will be sustained cn appeal, but $100 per week alimony pendente lito will be reduced to $200 per month, where-it appears that the court below took into consideration the extravagant manner in which the parties had lived, and the large income of the husband for a number of years, without taking into consideration that at the time the libel was filed the husband’s income had been greatly reduced, and his .estate placed in a precarious condition by financial reverses.</p> <p>It seems that as the Act of 1'ebruary 26, 1817, 6 Sm. L. 405, relating to divorce a mensa et thoro, limits the amount of permanent alimony to which the wife shall he entitled, in.case she succeeds in establishing her right to a final decree, to the one-third of the income from the property and labor of the husband, the amount of alimony awarded pendente lite s