After a divorce, Michigan family courts will sometimes order a higher-earning spouse to pay alimony (or spousal support) to a lower-earning spouse. Alimony arrangements are rarely permanent, and they’re often intended to help a lower-earning spouse transition to unmarried life.
When setting the amount of alimony due, courts try to create an arrangement that’s fair to both spouses. However, if either party has experienced a significant life change, it may be possible to petition the court to ask for a modification.
These are some signs that it might be time to adjust your alimony agreement.
1. Your Income (or Your Ex-Spouse’s Income) Has Changed
This is one of the most common reasons to request a change to an alimony agreement. Either party may request a change if financial circumstances change:
- If the payer gets a high-paying job, the recipient might request an increase
- If the payer takes a pay cut, they may ask for monthly payments to be reduced
- If the recipient loses their job, they might ask for an increase
- If the recipient starts earning more, the payer might request a reduction
In order for the court to seriously consider a change, the change in income must be substantial. Minor income fluctuations typically won’t have an impact on alimony arrangements.
2. You’ve Experienced a Serious Illness or Disability
Whether you’re the one paying alimony or the one receiving it, experiencing a long-term, major illness or disability may be enough to have your alimony agreement modified.
For example, imagine you’re receiving alimony from your former spouse while you work toward self-sufficiency. You find a new job and are doing well until you’re diagnosed with cancer. In this case, the court might increase the amount of alimony you receive per month or order your former spouse to pay you for an additional few months.
However, the court considers both parties’ overall situations before making a decision. For example, if your former spouse is having trouble paying the alimony you’re receiving now, the court probably wouldn’t order them to pay more.
3. The Recipient Is Living With a New Significant Other
In many cases, courts will modify alimony agreements if the recipient begins living with a significant other. Even if the recipient hasn’t remarried, the assumption is that because they’re sharing a household, their new significant other is helping them cover expenses.
Likewise, courts may terminate alimony or adjust the total amount paid if the recipient remarries. The point of alimony is generally to help a lower-earning spouse afford a similar standard of living they enjoyed while married. If the lower-earning spouse is now part of a two-income household, they may no longer need outside financial support.
4. You Recently Retired
If you’ve been paying alimony to your ex-spouse and have retired, you might be able to provide the court with evidence of your new, lower income and have alimony payments lowered on that basis.
However, before granting your request, the court will generally want to determine whether you retired in good faith. That means you retired for your own reasons, rather than simply to avoid paying alimony.
5. You’re Supporting Additional Children
Imagine you’ve been paying your ex-spouse alimony for almost a year. You have a good job and could easily afford the amount.
However, you have recently remarried, and your new spouse has two children who live with them full-time. You legally adopt the children, and because you’re financially supporting them, continuing to pay alimony is a challenge.
In this case, you might be able to provide the court with evidence of how much you’re spending on your children each month. If the court agrees that continuing to pay alimony isn’t feasible, they might terminate your alimony agreement or reduce the amount you’re required to pay your ex-spouse each month.
How Do You Change an Alimony Agreement?
Most alimony agreements can be changed by court order. However, if your divorce settlement includes a clause making alimony non-modifiable, the amount is likely unchangeable (although there are some exceptions).
You should never stop paying alimony or reduce the amount of your payments without a court order. If you or your spouse has experienced a major life change, you generally must take the following steps to try to modify it:
Prepare Evidence
If you want to modify your alimony agreement, you must be able to provide proof of your reasoning to the judge. These are some possible examples:
- Pay stubs or employment records
- Evidence of job loss
- Photos or other evidence that your ex-spouse is living with a partner
- Medical records illustrating a serious diagnosis
If you’re filing a motion because your spouse got a new job, it may be difficult or impossible to determine how much their income has increased. Depending on the circumstances, the court might order each spouse to submit a complete financial disclosure for review.
File a Motion
The process starts with drafting and filing a motion for modification. The motion must be filed with the same court that ordered the original alimony agreement. Once the motion has been filed with the court, it must also be served on your former spouse.
Attend a Hearing
If the judge thinks your request has merit, they might set up a hearing. This is when both sides present their evidence to the judge, and the judge decides whether alimony will be modified or not.
Need Help Petitioning the Court?
Even if you or your ex-spouse has experienced one of the major changes mentioned above, there’s no guarantee that the court will approve a change to your alimony agreement. The best way to increase your chances of success is to contact an experienced family law attorney.
At Gucciardo Family Law, we’ve helped countless Michigan families navigate the court system. If you need to change your alimony agreement, we can help gather documentation, file the petition, and even represent you in court if needed.
If you have questions or you’re ready to get started, call us or contact us online to set up your initial consultation.
