Three years after divorce, ex-wife is threatening to take ex-husband back to court

[kcinva]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

My husband has been divorced from his ex-wife for three and a half years. During divorce, both had lawyers. Ex-wife gets half of ex-husband's retirement pay, free rent (he pays the mortgage), and a fixed amount of alimony a month. He also set up 12 payments of extra money she can ask for if needed. Now she is threatening to call her lawyer to get more money from him because she lost her job. Does she have a case to even consider?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by kcinva

What is the name of your state? Virginia

My husband has been divorced from his ex-wife for three and a half years. During divorce, both had lawyers. Ex-wife gets half of ex-husband's retirement pay, free rent (he pays the mortgage), and a fixed amount of alimony a month. He also set up 12 payments of extra money she can ask for if needed. Now she is threatening to call her lawyer to get more money from him because she lost her job. Does she have a case to even consider?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

No, I don't believe so...the divorce and the settlement are a done deal...unless the agreement allows for changes. Alimony is not like child support.

[BelizeBreeze]

Actually it depends entirely on the facts of the case according to HB 517 passed into law by the 1998 General Assembly of Virginia and titled "Rehabilitative Alimony Act".

"The amount or duration of "defined duration" alimony may be modified during the "duration," if there is a change of circumstances not reasonably contemplated by the parties, or if an event the court anticipated failed to happen "through no fault of the party" seeking modification. "

Modification is still only allowed when the original award was contested, however, and not when it was the subject of a separation agreement that did not explicitly provide for modification.