Can alimony payments be lowered or eliminated?

[Mangeli]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

I am inquiring on behalf of my father, he has been paying my mother alimony/maintenance for the past eight years as agreed in their divorce. The entire time my mother had been banking the money because she does not need the money to live off of. She has gotten moderate raises in the meantime as well. Now she has decided to move across the country to live with her boyfriend where their lifestyle as far as expenses would be very very minimal. (They plan to live in trailer type home that someone gave to them in the middle of the mountains) Is there a way for my father ti be able to eliminate these payments to her considering that there will be a drastic lifestyle change? Because isn't the whole purpose of maintenance payments so that the other party can still maintain their way of life as they did before the divorce? If so, how does he go about doing this? The last time that they were in court, the judge sided with my mother and told him that he should come back to court unless there was a significant decrease in his earnings. lease, if you have advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Mangeli

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

I am inquiring on behalf of my father, he has been paying my mother alimony/maintenance for the past eight years as agreed in their divorce. The entire time my mother had been banking the money because she does not need the money to live off of. She has gotten moderate raises in the meantime as well. Now she has decided to move across the country to live with her boyfriend where their lifestyle as far as expenses would be very very minimal. (They plan to live in trailer type home that someone gave to them in the middle of the mountains) Is there a way for my father ti be able to eliminate these payments to her considering that there will be a drastic lifestyle change? Because isn't the whole purpose of maintenance payments so that the other party can still maintain their way of life as they did before the divorce? If so, how does he go about doing this? The last time that they were in court, the judge sided with my mother and told him that he should come back to court unless there was a significant decrease in his earnings. lease, if you have advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Unless their agreement/decree stated that alimony would be eliminated or reduced in the case of co-habitation, then I think that if the judge told him not to come back unless he had a signficant decrease in his earnings...then he probably shouldn't go back unless he had a signficant decrease in his earnings.

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by Mangeli

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

I am inquiring on behalf of my father, he has been paying my mother alimony/maintenance for the past eight years as agreed in their divorce. The entire time my mother had been banking the money because she does not need the money to live off of. She has gotten moderate raises in the meantime as well. Now she has decided to move across the country to live with her boyfriend where their lifestyle as far as expenses would be very very minimal. (They plan to live in trailer type home that someone gave to them in the middle of the mountains) Is there a way for my father ti be able to eliminate these payments to her considering that there will be a drastic lifestyle change? Because isn't the whole purpose of maintenance payments so that the other party can still maintain their way of life as they did before the divorce? If so, how does he go about doing this? The last time that they were in court, the judge sided with my mother and told him that he should come back to court unless there was a significant decrease in his earnings. lease, if you have advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

The parties to an agreement can agree to make maintenance non-modifiable in either amount or duration. That agreement would be enforceable by the court. Otherwise, maintenance is always modifiable based on a substantial change in the circumstances of either party.

Regardless of what the judge told pops, the statute clearly stipulates that unless the agreement specifically states that the award of alimony (maintenance) is non-modifiable, it is open to be ended or modified.

I would suggest to your father that he contact a local attorney who can do a comparison of what your mother earns now as to when the maintenance was awarded, the living situation and other factors that contribute to the circumstances which make maintenance modifiable and decide what to do on that basis.