Maintenance of a Divorcée during `Iddah (Waiting Period)
My wife of 15 years left me with no notice. She did not tell me she was leaving, nor where she was going. She did not contact me for over 10 days. She was upset that I was considering taking a 2nd wife. She is past child-bearing. I did not touch her since before her May menses, she left at the end of June and returned after 2 1/2 weeks to take her things and move out. At that time I pronounced divorce, that was my first opportunity to do so. What is my responsibility to her in `iddah, since I provided her with a home that she deserted? Must I still support her in a new residence, or does her desertion exempt me from that? I allowed her to take any furnishings she wanted from our home.
