If your former spouse learns that you intend to get remarried, they may wish to modify or terminate their alimony and child support obligations. This may also be the case if you and your new partner simply cohabitate. Read on to discover how alimony and child support work with remarriage and how one of the New York City spousal maintenance attorneys at Zimmet Law Group, P.C. can help you achieve a fair and just order.
How does alimony work with remarriage?
To formally modify or terminate an alimony obligation, your former spouse will have to file a petition for a post-judgment modification with a New York family court. By New York law, an alimony order may last until there is a request for modification, either spouse dies, and importantly, the recipient spouse remarries. In addition to remarriage, a recipient’s spouse’s cohabitation with a new partner can mean the end of alimony payments.
When determining whether cohabitation exists, the New York family court will ask the following questions:
- Do you and your new partner share the same physical address?
- Do you and your new partner habitually live at the same physical address?
- Do you and your new partner have shared finances?
- Do you and your new partner have shared living expenses?
- Do you and your new partner share household chores?
- Do you and your new partner acknowledge your relationship in social and family circles?
If the answer to any or all of the above questions is “yes,” then the New York family court will conclude that true cohabitation exists, which may end your right to collect alimony payments. In addition, if your former spouse continues to pay alimony without knowledge of your remarriage, they may be able to seek reimbursement later on.
How does child support work with remarriage?
Notably, child support obligations work a little differently than alimony obligations when it comes to remarriage. Usually, your former spouse will not be able to seek a modification or termination of child support simply because you remarried or cohabitate with your new partner. This is because the New York family courts hold the notion that a child should reap the same benefits as they would have if their parents remained married. Similarly, they also hold the notion that your new partner should not be responsible for financially supporting a child from your previous marriage.
However, your former spouse may make the argument that your new partner is paying for many of your child’s expenses. If they can prove this, the New York family court may conclude that your income has freed up, and they may grant a reduced child support payment obligation to your former spouse.
For legal representation throughout your post-judgment modification proceedings, you must retain the services of one of the competent New York City child support attorneys today.
