Divorce Support Forums: Cohabitation? Grounds to terminate Alimony?

I understand that this is the problem with non-modifiable awards, that life happens. But the REAL problem is NOT with the courts or the laws. NON-MODIFIABLE, in almost every circumstance where it's REALLY non-modifiable, is something that was AGREED upon by the person paying (as well as the person receiving).

Of all the things you're thinking and being careful about at the time of the divorce, it's CRAZY to not think and be careful about the term "non-modifiable". You HAVE to knwo that the term means NON modifiable! It means that you have to take the chance that if you earn less in the future that you'll still have to pay it. You have to take the chance that if you lose your job, your health, yoru money, that you'll STILL have to pay it. What most people are thinking of when they agree to non-modifiable support is that they believe their earning capacity will go up so high that their ex will want to come back and get MORE... so they're all happy to make it non-modifiable in the gamble that they'll get more and their ex won't be able to get it.

But it IS a gamble and they knwo it at the time they sign it that it's a gamble.

Heck, just like the gamble of taking on a mortgage... maybe an adjustible rate mortgage with the gamble that you'll sell or be able to find a fixed rate or better rate once the adjustible rate gets out of reach... or maybe the gamble that your income will increase with the adjustments.

Or a better example is if you buy a car with a loan, get the car, crash the car... loan doesn't go away. In Waldren's case, his car payment was $1000 per month for 5 years. Car is gone. Job is gone. Payment doesn't disappear. Whoops. Bad contract. Bad bet. It happens. It's not nice, but sometimes, we lose when we make a contract like this.

We spend our lives getting into contracts based upon the gamble that we'll be able to fulfill the contracts as time goes on. That does not mean that we can ever change the contracts if we can NOT fulfill their terms later on.

I think everyone needs to be VERY careful about putting "non-modifiable" terms into their decrees. "modifiable only in case of death, disability, remarriage" may be more appropriate.

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