Terminating Alimony Obligations Because Your Ex-Spouse Is in a Supportive Relationship With a New Partner

Before there was clickbait to bring out the worst in everyone at every moment, if you wanted to see people’s worst side, you had to mention the word “alimony” in conversation; suddenly, your otherwise mild-mannered interlocutor would say the worst things imaginable about the opposite sex, even if your interlocutor had never been divorced, and woe to you if you dared to say “alimony” to a divorced person.  Something about being ordered to pay money to the person who walked out of your marriage and fractured your marital estate adds insult to injury.  The thought of your ex taking it easy while you work hard to support your family, without your ex even folding your clothes or keeping the peace with your parents, is bad enough; it is worse when your ex is getting money from you while also getting money and love from someone else.  The court will not terminate your alimony obligations simply because your ex is a gold digger, a liar, a hypochondriac, or some combination thereof.  You can, however, terminate your alimony obligations if your ex-spouse is in a supportive relationship with a new partner, although the definition of “supportive relationship” is frustratingly difficult to pin down.  If your ex-spouse is in a serious relationship with someone new while continuing to live off of your alimony payments, contact a Boca Raton alimony lawyer.

Can You Stop Paying Alimony Even If the New Guy Shacking Up With Your Ex Is as Broke as You Are?

A Florida couple divorced in 2013 after 18 years of marriage.  The wife began cohabitating with her boyfriend after the divorce, and the husband petitioned the court to reduce or terminate his alimony obligations.  The appeals court ruled that the trial court may modify the alimony order based on the wife’s new relationship, but it left it to the discretion of the trial court as to how to do this.

The appeals court’s ruling cited enough examples to show that Florida case law about alimony and supportive relationships is all over the place, to put it mildly.  It gave examples where the new boyfriend moved into the ex-wife’s former marital home and contributed little to household expenses; in these cases, the court terminated the alimony so the former husband would not be financially supporting his freeloading ex and her freeloading boyfriend.  Florida case law also includes examples where the former wife persuasively argued that the guy sharing her former marital home is just a housemate, and that being housemates is not a supportive relationship.  In other cases, the courts have reduced the former husband’s alimony obligations when the former wife moved in with her parents, effectively eliding the categories of “dad” and “sugar daddy.”

Contact Schwartz | White About Reducing Your Alimony Obligations

A South Florida family law attorney can help you reduce or terminate your alimony obligations because your ex-spouse is in a supportive relationship with someone new.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3193160850839674225&q=divorce+pool&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2015&as_yhi=2025