Retirement, a Voluntary Pay Cut, and a Supportive Relationship
After a 28-year marriage, the court entered a final judgment in 2021 ordering husband, now 64, to pay durational alimony of $5,000 per month for 15 years. Husband earns $220,000; wife, now 61, earns $55,000 and has hypertension. In January 2025 husband petitioned to modify or terminate, alleging he will retire in six months at 65, his income will drop to Social Security and $400,000 in savings, and wife has lived with a partner for three years. Wife's partner pays half the mortgage and utilities; they take vacations together and share a car, but keep separate bank accounts and have not married. Husband also voluntarily reduced his schedule last year, cutting his pay by $30,000. Wife's monthly need is $4,000. Husband asks that any termination be retroactive to the petition and that wife pay his fees. Wife says retirement is speculative and the partner relationship is not supportive.
1. May the court modify or terminate alimony based on husband's planned retirement and voluntary pay cut? What findings are required?
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Retirement can be a substantial change, but the petition is premature if husband has not retired and the plan is only an intention. The court should consider his age, health, reasonable retirement age, the parties' standard of living, whether retirement was contemplated at divorce, and his ability to pay. A voluntary pay cut is treated as voluntary underemployment; the court may impute the $30,000, and possibly the prior $220,000, unless he shows the reduction was for a legitimate reason. The court should not terminate alimony now on a speculative future event; it can reserve jurisdiction or set a review. If he retires in good faith at 65, he may seek modification then; wife's need and her $55,000 income still matter. The court must make written findings on the section 61.08(2) factors. His savings do not automatically eliminate need.
2. Does wife's relationship constitute a supportive relationship under section 61.14(1)(b)? Apply the factors and burdens.
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Under section 61.14(1)(b), alimony may terminate if wife is in a supportive relationship of a marriage-like nature. The payor bears the burden. The factors include shared residence, shared expenses, joint accounts, joint ownership, the length and nature of the relationship, holding out as a couple, social activities, and other evidence. Three years of cohabitation, shared mortgage and utilities, shared vacations, and a shared car weigh heavily for husband. Separate bank accounts and no marriage are not dispositive; the statute does not require marriage or financial dependency. Wife's label does not control. The court should make specific findings on each factor. If it finds a supportive relationship, it may terminate alimony; if not, the relationship can still reduce her need.
3. What are the limits on retroactivity and attorney's fees?
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Modification is generally retroactive to the date the petition was served, not before, absent statutory authority; any arrears before that date are enforceable. If termination is based on a supportive relationship, the court should determine the effective date and avoid double relief. Attorney's fees under section 61.16 turn on need and ability and the parties' relative financial positions; husband's claimed retirement does not automatically shield him, especially if he has $400,000 in savings and paid his own lawyer. The court should require updated financial affidavits and find husband's ability to pay. Wife's hypertension and age support her need but do not defeat termination.