39 A.2d 719 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1944
Argued October 3, 1944.
We think this appeal is governed in principle, and ruled against the appellant, by our decision in Com. v. MacMaster,
Alimony pendente lite, by its very nature, ceases when the divorce proceeding is finally determined and is therefore no longer pending. If a divorce from the bond of matrimony is granted, no matter which party is the libellant, alimony pendente lite stops as soon as *138 the decree becomes absolute; and since the enactment of the Divorce Law of 1929, P.L. 1237, permanent alimony in such an action is limited to a respondent wife who is insane. If the divorce is refused, alimony pendente lite stops, as of course, with the termination of the case.
If a wife asks for a divorce from bed and board and the libel is finally dismissed, the order for alimony pendente lite is no longer of force and effect. If the divorce is granted, permanent alimony may be allowed by the court, but the alimony pendente lite ceases on the decree becoming absolute.
The allowance of alimony pendente lite is largely within the sound discretion of the lower court. It is sometimes larger than the permanent alimony allowed a wife libellant on obtaining a divorce from bed and board. See Rutherford v. Rutherford,
There has been some uncertainty with respect to the effect upon an order or decree for alimony pendente lite of an appeal to this court from a decree granting or refusing a divorce. The general rule was stated by Judge PORTER, speaking for this court, inPonthus v. Ponthus,
The same reasoning used by Judge PORTER in Ponthus v. Ponthus, supra, would ordinarily be applied where the wife filed her libel asking for a divorce from bed and board and was awarded alimony pendente lite, and her libel was subsequently dismissed and she appealed from that decree to this court. In such case her order for alimony pendente lite would, as a result of the appeal, continue in force until the decree of the court below was affirmed, or the lower court, in the exercise of its sound discretion, vacated it.
An order allowing a wife alimony pendente lite may be made by the court below after an appeal has been taken to this court from a decree granting her husband a divorce, which appeal is still pending, (N.S. White v. Beatrice M. White,
The dismissal of a wife's libel for divorce from bed and board, even if upheld on appeal, is not an adjudication that she is not entitled to maintenance and support from her husband. That is a matter for the court of quarter sessions to decide. The jurisdiction of the court of common pleas ends with the dismissal of the divorce proceedings and the affirmance of its decree. Hence, if Mrs. Scholl had not appealed from the decree of the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County dismissing her libel in divorce, her right to be supported and maintained by her husband would not have been adjudicated against her. In Wick v. Wick,
We held in Com. ex rel. Maroney v. Maroney, *141
Order affirmed. Appellant to pay the costs.