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On December 28, 2018, new Pennsylvania spousal support changes and APL guidelines were issued that took effect on January 1, 2019. Litigants and lawyers both need to understand the new Pennsylvania Guidelines. If it is time for an award of support, everyone who gets or pays spousal support (or alimony pendente lite, “APL”) will be affected by the change to the support rules.

Since 1980, a dependent spouse can get support from the income superior spouse during the pendency of the divorce called alimony pendente lite (APL). There are some limits as to the length of time and in a few cases, the dependent spouse will not qualify. In most cases, however, when a married couple is separated, spousal support applies; if a divorce is pending, APL applies regardless of the claim that the recipient is at fault.

The biggest change in calculation of spousal support/APL was triggered by the change in the tax laws. Effective January 1, 2019 new orders for spousal support, APL and alimony no longer have special tax treatment. Before that date, an order or signed agreement would lead to the inclusion of the amount in the taxable income of the recipient and a tax deduction for the payor.

That meant that if someone paid $1,000 a month in spousal support, APL or alimony, the payor got a $12,000 tax write-off and would save federal taxes on $12,000 of income. In comparison, the recipient would have another $12,000 of taxable income so the receipt of the money came with a price tag.

The purpose of the rules is to offset the change in the tax impact. No longer will a new spousal support, APL or alimony agreement or order trigger the tax impact.

If the couple was still married, they may have continued to file joint tax returns. Neither took the tax write-off, or paid taxes on the amount received. Often the benefit of filing jointly exceeded the special tax treatment, therefore husband and wife never felt the “benefit” or the “bite” of the shift in the tax effect.

The change in support rules means the amount of the payment is going to drop to adjust for the absence of the tax benefit or bite. If a person was paying spousal support, APL, or alimony and enjoyed that extra deduction, that payor will continue to keep the tax benefit under the old tax laws because it is based on a pre-2019 order or agreement. The payor might not want to modify the order in 2019. A new order will not continue the tax deduction benefit. In some cases where the payment was significant and the tax benefit was significant, the payor will be disappointed by the new guidelines. The discounted obligation may not be comparable to that payor’s after tax benefit.

The 2nd critical difference under the new rules: reallocating the “extras”
There is a second critical difference in the approach to spousal support under the new Rules. The new Guidelines provide for the initial calculation of spousal/APL and then the support court will shift that amount of money from the payor to the recipient, and the payor will have lower net income for the purpose of contribution to expenses in addition to the monthly Guideline amount. And the recipient is deemed to have higher net income. This will now change the percentage contribution to extra expenses. The extras include medical insurance premiums and uncovered medical. When there are children, the adjusted percentages apply to child care, educational needs and some extra curricular expenses.


In summary, if you only pay or get child support, the changes in the rules are relatively modest. In contrast, the shift in the approach to payment of spousal support or APL changes the amounts for all. Everyone has the right to ask the support orders be updated under the amended rules.

The change in support rules means the amount of the payment is going to drop to adjust for the absence of the tax benefit or bite. If a person was paying spousal support, APL, or alimony and enjoyed that extra deduction, that payor will continue to keep the tax benefit under the old tax laws because it is based on a pre-2019 order or agreement. The payor will not want to modify the order using the 2019 rules. In cases of significant payment of spousal support/APL beneficial to the payor after-tax in 2018, the payor will be disappointed when replaced by alimony in 2019. It is expected post-2018 alimony will not qualify as a modification of pre-2019 spousal support/APL.