Support alimony can be modified. A party can ask the court to modify or terminate a support alimony award by filing a motion with the court. The judge must then hear the evidence and determie whether there has been the kind of change in circumstances that supports a modification under the law.
The conditions that must be present before the law supports the modification are as follows:
- The support alimony payments must still be being paid under the original order; and
- There must have been a change in circumstances that affects either the parties’s income; or
- The dependent party may have remarried or started to cohabitate with another.
How can a party’s change in income affect support alimony?
In general, in Oklahoma, support alimony is to help the economically dependent spouse to readjust to single life. The award is premised on the fact that this spouse needs the money to meet his or her expenses. However, if the dependent spouse’s income increases so that he or she is able to support herself, this may be grounds to ask the court to modify or terminate the support alimony.
How does the dependent party’s remarriage affect alimony?
In Oklahoma, support alimony automatically terminates upon the remarriage of the dependent party, unless that party files a Motion seeking to extend the alimony within the required time period.
How does the dependent party’s cohabitation with a boyfriend or girlfriend affect alimony?
In Oklahoma, cohabitation does not trigger an automatic termination, but the paying party can ask for a termination in a motion to the court.