Approaches and Tips for Lowering Alimony Payments in Oregon
If you regularly make alimony payments to your ex-spouse, you might come to a point where you wish to reduce the payments. Don't reduce the payments indiscriminately - you need the court's approval. Below are some approaches and tips you can use for the modification.
Paths to Alimony Reduction
You have several paths to lower your alimony payments. Below are some possibilities.
Agreement
The easiest way to reduce alimony payments is to get your former spouse's agreement. The agreement can come in two ways. First, you can include a clause in your divorce or spousal support agreement that allows you to reduce the payments upon a triggering event. For example, you can agree to lower the payments if your former spouse graduates from college.
Secondly, you can agree with your ex-spouse to reduce the payments even if you didn't include the reduction in the original agreement. Your current relations with your ex-spouse and their reasonableness affect the likelihood of the agreement.
Income Change
If you cannot reach an agreement with your ex-spouse, the next best strategy is to prove a substantial change in income. You may be eligible for an alimony decrease if you prove that your income has substantially decreased. You must prove that the decrease was involuntary to succeed with this strategy. For example, you may succeed if you can prove that:
You have suffered a permanent disability, such as paralysis, and cannot work
You have lost your job through no fault of your own
Your business, which was your sole source of income, is bankrupt
Alternatively, you may prove that your ex-spouse's income has increased, and they can meet their financial obligations without your support. An example is if your former spouse:
Has graduated and landed a high-paying job
Has received a significant job promotion
Has a business that has blossomed
Again, the change must be significant for the court to consider your request.
Need Change
Lastly, you may succeed in lowering alimony payments if you can prove that your former spouse no longer needs the money. Your chances of modification based on need change depend on why your ex-spouse got the alimony in the first place.
Consider a case where you divorce while your partner is ill and requires significant money for medical expenses. A couple of years later, your former spouse recovers and no longer has significant medical expenses. You can use the reduced financial needs to petition the court for alimony reduction.
Tips
Alimony modification is rarely automatic; you have to work for it. Below are some tips to help you succeed.
Approach Your Spouse
Courts will rarely object if the receiving spouse agrees to alimony modification. Thus, the easiest way to lower alimony is to reason with your spouse. This approach is possible if you are on good terms with your spouse and your divorce was amicable. You can save significant money in legal fees if you succeed with this route.
Use Financial Discovery Laws
Use financial discovery to know whether your spouse's income has significantly changed before filing for a modification. You can conduct financial discovery outside the courtroom so that you only file for a modification once you have the facts you can use as evidence.
Keep It Honest and Fair
Whichever approach you take to lower your alimony payments, ensure you are honest with your former spouse. You should also be fair in your demands. For example, you should not lie about your income. You should not use the modification to get back to your spouse for anything they did. Such tactics might scuttle the modification process.
The Rise Law Group has significant experience with family law issues in Oregon and California. Contact us for a consultation on your alimony modification, and we will help you get the outcome you desire.