How to End Alimony Payments
Hire a lawyer., Contact your ex-spouse., Negotiate an agreement., Draft an agreed stipulation., Sign the stipulation., File your paperwork., Attend a hearing, if necessary., Get copies of the new order.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Hire a lawyer.
A good family law lawyer will help you reach out to your ex-spouse, negotiate an acceptable agreement, draft the agreement, and get it signed by the judge.
He or she will give you the best chance of ending the alimony payments.
Because you have likely gone through a divorce already, you should be able to Find a Good Family Law Attorney relatively easily.
However, if you need help, call your state bar association's lawyer referral service.
After answering a few general questions you will be put in touch with multiple qualified candidates. -
Step 2: Contact your ex-spouse.
Ending alimony using an agreement will only work if you and your ex-spouse are on good terms.
Coming up with an acceptable agreement will require you and your ex-spouse to work together.
If you and your ex-spouse are on good terms, reach out to them and explain why you need to end alimony.If you are the one making payments, you might explain that you have lost your job or that alimony payments are no longer necessary because your ex-spouse is remarried.
If you are the one receiving payments, you may want to end alimony payments if you are living with another person or were recently married to someone else. , With the help of your lawyer, you and your ex-spouse should sit down together and discuss your options.
If your changed circumstances are truly substantial enough to warrant ending alimony, your ex-spouse will usually understand or even expect the discussion.
However, some ex-spouses will not give up their alimony without getting something in return.
For example, you might need to agree to continue making partial payments for a period of months before the alimony ends.
If informal negotiations fail, consider mediation.
During mediation, a neutral third party will sit down with you and your ex-spouse to try and find common ground.
The mediator will not take sides and will not voice opinions; he or she is simply there to help the parties through the problem., Once an agreement is reached, it needs to be written up as an agreement/stipulation so it can be submitted to the court for approval.Your attorney will help you with this step in order to ensure the agreement is written in a legally acceptable manner.
However, you need to work with your attorney to make sure he or she includes all of the important agreed upon terms. , When the agreement has been drafted, you and your ex-spouse both need to sign it.
It might even be necessary to sign in the presence of a notary public. , Take your newly drafted agreement, a copy of the original order you are trying to modify, and a blank spousal support order form and file them with the court.
Attached to all of these documents will be a caption page, which will include the same information (i.e., court name and docket number) as the spousal support order that is currently in effect.
Your paperwork needs to be filed with the same court that handled your divorce and any other alimony modifications in the past.
When you file your paperwork, you may have to pay a filing fee with the clerk.
If you cannot afford the fee, you may be able to get it waived., Most modifications are approved by the judge without any hearing at all.
So long as both parties agree to the modification and there is no legal barrier to implementing the agreement, the judge should readily sign off on it.
However, in some jurisdictions and in some circumstances, the judge may want to hear from the parties.
If this happens to you, attend your hearing and explain why spousal support will end.
Your attorney will do most of the talking and will explain, in legal terms, why alimony is no longer necessary.
If the judge does ask you a question, answer it completely and honestly.In most cases, the judge will just want to make sure that both parties actually understand what they are agreeing to. , When the hearing is over and/or the judge signs off on the agreement, the judge will draft a new spousal support order reflecting your agreement.
In this case, the new order will reflect that alimony has ended.
Make sure you keep a copy of this order for your records.
You may have to show the order to interested parties.
For example, you might need to show the order to your employer in order to stop wage garnishments. -
Step 3: Negotiate an agreement.
-
Step 4: Draft an agreed stipulation.
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Step 5: Sign the stipulation.
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Step 6: File your paperwork.
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Step 7: Attend a hearing
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Step 8: if necessary.
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Step 9: Get copies of the new order.
Detailed Guide
A good family law lawyer will help you reach out to your ex-spouse, negotiate an acceptable agreement, draft the agreement, and get it signed by the judge.
He or she will give you the best chance of ending the alimony payments.
Because you have likely gone through a divorce already, you should be able to Find a Good Family Law Attorney relatively easily.
However, if you need help, call your state bar association's lawyer referral service.
After answering a few general questions you will be put in touch with multiple qualified candidates.
Ending alimony using an agreement will only work if you and your ex-spouse are on good terms.
Coming up with an acceptable agreement will require you and your ex-spouse to work together.
If you and your ex-spouse are on good terms, reach out to them and explain why you need to end alimony.If you are the one making payments, you might explain that you have lost your job or that alimony payments are no longer necessary because your ex-spouse is remarried.
If you are the one receiving payments, you may want to end alimony payments if you are living with another person or were recently married to someone else. , With the help of your lawyer, you and your ex-spouse should sit down together and discuss your options.
If your changed circumstances are truly substantial enough to warrant ending alimony, your ex-spouse will usually understand or even expect the discussion.
However, some ex-spouses will not give up their alimony without getting something in return.
For example, you might need to agree to continue making partial payments for a period of months before the alimony ends.
If informal negotiations fail, consider mediation.
During mediation, a neutral third party will sit down with you and your ex-spouse to try and find common ground.
The mediator will not take sides and will not voice opinions; he or she is simply there to help the parties through the problem., Once an agreement is reached, it needs to be written up as an agreement/stipulation so it can be submitted to the court for approval.Your attorney will help you with this step in order to ensure the agreement is written in a legally acceptable manner.
However, you need to work with your attorney to make sure he or she includes all of the important agreed upon terms. , When the agreement has been drafted, you and your ex-spouse both need to sign it.
It might even be necessary to sign in the presence of a notary public. , Take your newly drafted agreement, a copy of the original order you are trying to modify, and a blank spousal support order form and file them with the court.
Attached to all of these documents will be a caption page, which will include the same information (i.e., court name and docket number) as the spousal support order that is currently in effect.
Your paperwork needs to be filed with the same court that handled your divorce and any other alimony modifications in the past.
When you file your paperwork, you may have to pay a filing fee with the clerk.
If you cannot afford the fee, you may be able to get it waived., Most modifications are approved by the judge without any hearing at all.
So long as both parties agree to the modification and there is no legal barrier to implementing the agreement, the judge should readily sign off on it.
However, in some jurisdictions and in some circumstances, the judge may want to hear from the parties.
If this happens to you, attend your hearing and explain why spousal support will end.
Your attorney will do most of the talking and will explain, in legal terms, why alimony is no longer necessary.
If the judge does ask you a question, answer it completely and honestly.In most cases, the judge will just want to make sure that both parties actually understand what they are agreeing to. , When the hearing is over and/or the judge signs off on the agreement, the judge will draft a new spousal support order reflecting your agreement.
In this case, the new order will reflect that alimony has ended.
Make sure you keep a copy of this order for your records.
You may have to show the order to interested parties.
For example, you might need to show the order to your employer in order to stop wage garnishments.
About the Author
Deborah Roberts
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow crafts tutorials.
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