Modifying Alimony Awards After the Tennessee Divorce Is Final

Modifying Alimony Awards After the Tennessee Divorce Is Final

After your Tennessee divorce is final, you may find that the alimony awarded is either insufficient (if you are receiving) or excessive (if you are paying). There is both good news and not so good news. The good news is that some alimony awards may be modified. The not so good news is that some alimony awards may be modified.

A Word of Caution About TN Alimony Awards

Before looking into each type of alimony and whether it can be modified, there is something every spouse should know before jumping into divorce negotiations.

When the judge neither orders alimony in the divorce decree, nor reserves the alimony issue for later, the party’s right to an award of spousal support is lost forever. The Tennessee judge cannot go back and retroactively add spousal support to an original divorce decree that was otherwise silent on the issue. Any alimony award in the initial decree, no matter how modest, will preserve the court’s authority to revisit the support issue later on and to modify the original divorce decree if permitted by law and is necessary.

1. Can Alimony in Solido Be Modified?

An award of alimony in solido cannot be modified. The unique characteristic of this lump sum award is that it may be ordered to support the spouse or be awarded as part of the property division in divorce (or possibly both). In either instance, it is a specific amount to be paid over a set period of time.

2. Can Rehabilitative Alimony Be Modified?

An award of rehabilitative alimony may be modified after the divorce is final. With any petition to modify spousal support, there must be a showing of a substantial and material change of circumstances. T.C.A. § 36-5-121. Additionally, the unanticipated change in circumstances must have happened after the court’s original support order was entered.

3. Can Alimony in Futuro Be Modified?

Alimony in futuro, or periodic alimony, is also modifiable (unless the parties agreed that such an award could not be modified later). If there was no agreement proscribing modification, then the former spouse who is requesting a change in the award must carry the burden of proving that circumstances have so substantially and materially changed as to justify an increase or decrease in the amount.

4. Can Transitional Alimony Be Modified?

An award of transitional alimony cannot be modified, unless the parties agreed otherwise. Transitional alimony ends upon the death of either party and there is a presumption that the support is no longer needed if the recipient cohabitates. If either of those events should occur, then the award may be terminated.

Modifying Spousal Support After Your TN Divorce

When you need to know more about modifying alimony after your divorce or legal separation, visit:

Tennessee Alimony Modification Law | How to Modify Alimony in TN

A Memphis divorce lawyer from the Miles Mason Family Law Group can help you through the legal challenges of divorce. To schedule your confidential consultation, call us today at (901) 683-1850. To learn more about alimony, read our Tennessee Alimony Law in Divorce | Answers to FAQs. For legal updates, news, analysis, and commentary on any number of divorce topics, visit our Tennessee Family Law Blog (you’ll find even more information in the Alimony category).