Termination of Alimony

Either the payer or recipient of court ordered alimony can file a motion in court for a modification of the order, but it will only be granted based on a change in circumstances. We searched back to 1973 and found only three relevant bills. In 1975 SB 1114 and HB 7873 and in 1977, HB 6325 would have limited alimony to five years; they were referred to the Judiciary Committee, which took no action on any of them.

When it enters a dissolution of marriage decree, the court can order either party to pay alimony to the other (CGS § 46b-82). In deciding on alimony the statutes require the court to consider certain listed factors. These include: (1) the length of the marriage; (2) the cause of the dissolution; (3) the parties' age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, and needs; and, (4) the desirability of the party granted custody of any minor children working.

Alimony can be awarded in a lump sum or periodically, and the length of time the payments must be made can be fixed or indefinite. The award can specify whether or not it can be changed in the future and under what conditions. These decisions are considered to be in the discretion of the court based on its judgement of fairness and the needs of the parties.

Unless the terms of the decree itself preclude modification, either party can at any time ask the court to alter the terms or discontinue it, but such a request must be "upon a showing of a substantial change of circumstances of either party" (CGS § 46b-86). The parties can agree and incorporate in their initial agreement, or the court can establish, items or circumstances that were contemplated and are not to be changed. Over the years the courts have ruled that the party requesting the change has the burden of proving the change in circumstances. (Epstein v. Epstein, 43 Conn. Supp. 400 (1994).

It had long been understood under common law that if the receiving party remarried, alimony would usually cease. The courts have also ruled that alimony orders can be altered upon a showing of substantial change in circumstances, whether or not the change was contemplated at the time of the dissolution (Fahy v. Fahy, 227 Conn. 505 (1993)).

In response to court cases pointing out that Connecticut did not recognize common law marriage and that therefore living with another person without marriage did not constitute a change in circumstances, the General Assembly passed legislation. Now the statutes specifically authorize the court to suspend, reduce, or terminate alimony whenever the party receiving it is living with another person under circumstances where the living arrangement causes a change of circumstances so as to alter the financial needs of that party. (See attached report 94-R-0700)

The courts have also upheld the right of a court to enter an award that does not terminate. In Burns v. Burns (41 Conn. App. 716 (1996)) the court stated that the goal of such an award is to allow for future modifications based on further changes in circumstances. Citing an example of a party who remarries, the court found it appropriate to reduce the award to $1 per year, thereby leaving it operational so that if in the future the party's situation changed again it could be increased.

LF:cd