Not all decisions are final, and your divorce decree is one of them. Despite working hard to create a settlement that is best for you and your spouse, you may find out later in life that it’s time for a modification. There are a variety of reasons that you may need to head back to court and modify your divorce agreement. In the event of a financial emergency, you may want to decrease the amount of alimony that you are paying or increase the amount you are receiving. For example, if your husband is paying child support and your child is involved in a car accident, you may ask to raise the amount of child support to cover the cost of the medical bills. If you are a wife who is paying spousal support and you discover you need emergency surgery, you may ask your ex-husband to reduce the amount you typically pay so that you can afford your medical expenses.

You can also seek a divorce modification if your become disabled and unable to support yourself/others due to a mental or physical infirmity. If you are recipient of alimony or spousal support and become disabled, you can probably ask for an increase. If you are a paying spouse then you can probably request a modification to cease or lower your support. You may also be able to modify your obligations based on a cost of living increase. Inflation reduces the value of support payments, so a recipient may request more money because of the lower value of the dollar. Also, the court may terminate or lower your spousal support as a recipient if you cohabit with another person. It is a generally understood fact that when a receiving spouse remarries all spousal support and alimony payments cease. Yet if you have a marriage-like relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend and move in with him or her for an extended amount of time the court may treat this like a marriage. This is especially true if you seek domestic partnership or cohabitation benefits from the state.

In some states, a change in law might modify all divorce decrees or alimony and spousal support payments. If this happens, you will most likely get a letter from your court house informing you of the changes. You will probably want a lawyer on your side to help you renegotiate your agreement in lieu of the new laws. It may also be time to modify your agreement if you have a new support obligation. If you are a paying spouse and you remarry and have new step-children to support, you may be able to take this concern to a family court. They may discontinue your spousal and child support obligations so that you can better provide for your new family.

The escalator clause can also cause a change in your settlement. This clause declares that the recipient of spousal support or alimony will receive an automatic share of any increase in the payer’s earnings. This means that as a paying spouse, you will have to increase your payments to your ex every time you get a raise. If there is an escalator clause in your spousal support agreement then this will modify your divorce agreement every time you get a modified paycheck. Your spousal support payments may also be affected by a COLA cause. This stands for Cost of Living Adjustment. A COLA clause essentially means that spousal support/alimony payments will increase at a rate equal to the annual cost of living. This way, you won’t end up with an unjust amount of money because of the inflation or deflation rates. If you want to modify your agreement for any of these reasons, contact a family lawyer to help you with the process!