Alimony or spousal support, are payments made by one spouse to the other after a divorce. Many people do not fully understand the point of alimony. Indeed, alimony can be a bit complicated to figure out under Massachusetts’s law. Essentially, the purpose of alimony is to avoid unfair financial effects of the divorce on the spouse who earned less income than the other spouse. For example, alimony can provide a source of financial support to help the recipient spouse get back on his or her feet, develop the skills and experience needed to find employment, and/or continue the same standard of living he or she enjoyed during the marriage. The specific purpose of alimony in any given case depends on the type of alimony. According to Massachusetts law, there are four types of alimony: General term Rehabilitative Reimbursement Transitional General term alimony is for spouses who are financially dependent on their former spouse. This type of alimony is paid periodically, usually on a month-by-month basis, for a set duration. Rehabilitative alimony is intended to help spouses until they can financially support themselves. Due to the nature of this type of alimony, the award is usually for a certain period of time, such as when the recipient spouse finishes a degree, completes job training, or becomes employed. Reimbursement alimony serves to pay spouses back for what they did to contribute to the other spouse’s well-being. For example, alimony can be awarded to reimburse a spouse for paying for the other spouse

Alimony is received in multiple ways, including spousal support. Those in Massachusetts might wonder if alimony can be terminated. Here are some general rules for receiving and ceasing alimony. A judge is the sole individual who has the power to change general term alimony as long as there is no written agreement that specifically gives instructions for the alimony to remain unchanged. Changing the end date on orders cannot be done. The alimony agreement is usually void if the person receiving alimony gets remarried, either spouse passes away or the spouse that is providing the other with funds reaches their full retirement age. This general term alimony may also be suspended if the spouse receiving the funds lives with another individual. Most surviving independent contracts cannot be changed, unless under extreme circumstances, such as one party going into poverty without a revision. In short, your Massachusetts alimony agreement cannot be changed unless you family and are in dire need or have a unique situation. Reasons for termination are very specific and also unlikely in most cases, such as the spouse dying while paying alimony benefits to the other spouse. Alimony is a big factor with many divorces in these modern days. People often rely on that money to live on and feed their children. Likewise, some who pay alimony do not think that the people they are paying should be receiving benefits. If you have an additional question regarding alimony or spousal support, contacting an experienced attorney might be very

In an earlier post, we discussed the various changes that may cause alimony to end, such as if one person died or remarried. Alimony may also end when the person paying the alimony reaches full retirement age. Under Massachusetts law, there is a presumption that a person no longer has to pay alimony when he or she reaches full retirement age. Full retirement age is the age when a person is eligible to receive full Social Security retirement benefits. The retirement age is 65 for people born before 1938. For people born in 1938 or after, the retirement age goes up to 67. There are exceptions to this presumption. In some situations, a judge can order a person to continue paying alimony to his or her ex-spouse even if that person reached the retirement age. The judge must find that there is good cause to enter this order. A judge must consider a number of factors when deciding whether to deviate from the presumptive duration or amount of alimony. These factors include: The age and health of either spouse; Tax considerations; Whether one spouse provides health insurance for the other spouse; Whether one spouse has a life insurance policy naming the other spouse as a beneficiary; Any sources of income or assets that were not allocated in the divorce; Whether either spouse contributed financially to the couple prior to getting married; A spouse’s inability to provide for his or her means due to physical or mental abuse by the other