how to get alimony reduced

[duke20]

My husband has an ex-wife of which they were married for 15 years. When they divorced he agreed to pay well above the court minimum for alimony until his children turn 18 years old. That is 12 years from now. Now that we are married, we would like to start a family. Is there a way that we can at least get this knocked down to the minimum amount or to have it somehow taper off over the years? I understand a large payment for the first year or so but for 12 years?????????? Help!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[trishajack1]

Hi. you might want to edit your message and say where u are from. I know, that if it is court ordered, he does have to pay that court ordered amount. also, no offense but it is he who has to pay not you and his paying alimony has nothing to do with you, this is a responsiblity he himself has to take care of. and you never know, one day, you might be one who asks for alimony and i really don't think you would want someone new is his life to try to decrease anything that you get through a court order.

 

[vrzirn]

Are you sure you mean alimony and not child support? If the former it surely can't hurt to return to court and ask.

 

[ellencee]

duke 20
when you answer vrzirn about if this is alimony or child support, will you include the date of the original order (1 year ago, 2 years ago, etc.),
and please tell us if other than the marriage to you, has there been any significant change in his income or employment, either for increase in status or reduction of status;
and does it continue unchanged until the youngest child is 18 or does it 'drop off' as the children age out at 18.
if it's really alimony, does the order have any information regarding the remarriage of the ex-wife?
All of this kind of information may have a bearing on whether or not he has a right to ask for a modification of the original order.

 

[duke20]

REPLY

To answer all of the questions...

trishajack1: I am in Alabama, my husband is the one that is pursuing this the most (not me) as I am helping him find answers, and we are in no way trying to go under what the minimum is for the courts for alimony.

vrzirn: I mean alimony. The child support is a different issue.

ellencee: The original order was about 1.5 years ago. My husband is self-employed and his income has actually dropped but since I work full-time our lifestyle has not changed. But, my income should not count toward any alimony, right? The alimony does not change one bit until the oldest child is 18. Then it reduces a little until the youngest is 18 (which is only 2 years difference). Yes, the alimony is cut off if the ex-wife remarries.

All I am asking for is a reduction over the years. I understand the original amount for the first few years for her to get on her feet. After that, shouldn't she have to do some things for herself. His payments allow her to not have to work at all. It's for her own good. Once the payments fully stop when the youngest is 18, she'll be receiving nothing and will have to find money from somewhere. It would help her to have to learn slowly along the way as to how to make money instead of being hit all at once.

 

[vrzirn]

I can't help but wonder if it was a do-it-yourself divorce.No worthwhile attorney would have permitted his client to make such major concessions whether out of guilt or sympathy. But, done is done. It is going to be really tough to have that reduced but not impossible. Get your papers together,verification of income, etc and go to court and beg judge for financial relief.
Expect a big fight from ex-wife. She will claim she cannot find a job, has no skills, has whiplash, arthritis,acne, suffers from stress and depression upon hearing "work". Then, the killer argument, "He promised and put it in writing".

 

[daBears]

Ok let's reverse this to the child support

My question is : young man is in the army and his child support was figured on his civilian income..which is double what his army pay is. So with $750/ per month going to child support you can imagine he's not keeping enough of his pay check to even buy himself a car!

He's serving in VA and the court is in Mass. What should be his next step to get that support refigured to a more realistic figure. His pay is cut in half.

 

[vrzirn]

Dabears-post your question on a new thread.

 

[daBears]

It's daBears... and if anyone reads that question and has an answer for me...I'll gladly check here for your comments on that reduction question.

 

[ellencee]

come on now, da bears, post this under the child support thread-starter so they will answer you. The attorney, whose advice you are seeking, may not read the ones on alimony, just the ones on child support. You don't want to get an answer like some of those I've read today, do you? I know I wouldn't!