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A divorce can profoundly impact your life in several ways. You may be wondering about your ability to modify or end the alimony payment in specific situations after the divorce, like job loss, retirement, or illness. Whether or not you can stop avoiding alimony payments hinges on the facts of your particular case, and the specific laws of the state where your divorce was finalized.
Court Consideration of Significant Life Changes
A former spouse cannot simply tell a family court to amend an alimony payment order. Avoiding alimony payments requires you offer proof that substantial changes have occurred since the alimony order became valid. These substantial changes may include:
- A considerable increase in income, or involuntary termination of employment
- A substantial income reduction, or involuntary loss of employment
- The recipient becomes economically independent
- Permanent disability or illness limiting future income
- Retirement with a corresponding income reduction
Once you’ve presented this evidence, the court assesses if the previous payment plan is still fair based on the updated reality of the situation.
Circumstances That Will Terminate Alimony
Depending on the laws in your state, some life events will automatically result in the cessation of alimony or require a special court ruling. Some of the most common reasons for the termination of alimony include:
- The receiving spouse remarries
- The receiving spouse lives with a person who finances them
- One or both of the former spouses pass away
- The terms and conditions of the original alimony award are fulfilled
Note that the law in some states may require a specific motion or petition to a family court so alimony does not cease automatically when one of these events occurs.
Procedure to Request a Modification
An alimony order does not change simply when life throws you a curve ball. You have to request and receive approval from a family court. The steps required to change an alimony award are as follows:
- You file a motion or petition to the family court
- Submit evidence in the form of tax returns, medical reports, and other corroborating information
- Notify your former spouse so they can reply
- Attend the court hearing where a judge weighs all the evidence to decide your request
Request Will Not Necessarily Be Granted
You aren’t guaranteed approval. The judge might decline to modify or terminate alimony if the court believes the changes that happened were foreseeable when the initial award was made. These are generally considered “predictable”, and insufficient grounds for modification.
Additionally, the parties’ divorce order or settlement may specify that no modifications or termination of the alimony payments will be permitted. In such a scenario, termination or modification can occur only by court order, if specifically allowed by the state law or if both parties agree.
Endnote
While designed to be fair, alimony can become unfair when unforeseen circumstances arise. Courts anticipate such scenarios and have established mechanisms for modifying or terminating alimony payments as necessary, provided sufficient proof of these changes can be submitted.
Want to know about How The McKinney Law Group Builds Divorce Agreements That Actually Last Check out our Family Law category.
