Connecticut Court Denies Request to Modify Alimmony
by
Joseph C. Maya on Jul. 03, 2017
Divorce & Family Law Divorce & Family Law Divorce
Summary: A blog post about a case in which a court refused alter alimony payments for a husband who claimed his ex-wife changed her living and financial situation.
If you have questions about divorce, legal separation, alimony pendente lite, or alimony in Connecticut, please feel free to call the experienced divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at 203-221-3100 or email Joseph C. Maya, Esq. at JMaya@Mayalaw.com.
A Connecticut Superior Court recently denied an ex-husband’s request to modify, reduce, or terminate alimony because his ex-wife’s living arrangements had changed. The court found that the ex-husband did not satisfy his burden of proof that both her living and financial arrangements had changed.
A husband, who claimed that his former wife was co-habitating, had the burden to prove that a change of circumstances took place that altered the financial needs of his former wife.
The parties divorced in Jan. 2011. At that time, defendant husband was ordered to pay alimony until the wife’s death, marriage, cohabitation (pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes §46b-86(b)) or Jan. 28, 2021, whichever took place first.
As a result of financial difficulties, the wife sold her car, closed her dance studio, its fixtures and inventory, borrowed $2,500 from her fiance and child and withdrew $5,000 from her individual retirement account. Although the wife testified that her 2015 engagement did not cause her fiance to contribute to joint expenses, before they married in Jan. 2016, her claim was “not credible.”
The former husband possessed the burden to prove that a change of circumstances took place that altered the financial needs of his former wife. Although the court suspected that the wife’s fiance shared expenses with the wife when the two were co-habitating, the former husband failed to prove that a change of circumstances took place that altered his former wife’s financial needs.
The court ordered the husband to continue to pay child support and to pay the alimony and child support arrearage of $1,472 at the rate of $10 per week.
For a free consultation, please do not hesitate to call the experienced family law and divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport, CT at 203-221-3100. We may also be reached for inquiries by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.
Source: Rochler v. Rochler, No. FA094038302, 2016 Conn. Super. LEXIS 588 (Super. Ct. Mar. 17, 2016).