Charleston Alimony Termination Lawyers

Types of South Carolina Alimony Orders

South Carolina law (S.C. Code § 20-3-130) permits family court judges to award one spouse temporary or permanent alimony. The process for terminating alimony in Charleston generally depends on the type of alimony awarded, which may fall into the following categories:

Pendente Lite: Temporary alimony awarded to one spouse during divorce and related proceedings. It might be terminated when the court enters the final divorce order.
Permanent Periodic: Ongoing payments made to an ex-spouse following divorce, generally until one party dies or the receiving party remarries or cohabitates with a romantic partner for at least ninety (90) days.
Lump Sum: A set amount of alimony paid in one payment or over time. It is only modifiable by the death of the receiving spouse and not by remarriage.
Rehabilitative: Temporary support awarded to an ex-spouse while he or she completes job training or schooling to become self-supportive.
Reimbursement: Often awarded when one spouse helps put another spouse through college or graduate school, and the court determines he or she is entitled to reimbursement of marital funds expended toward that education.

Every alimony award has different and confusing termination events and standards. Always continue paying alimony until you speak with our dedicated Moncks Corner spousal support termination lawyer.

Options for Ending S.C. Alimony Payments

There are four main ways to end alimony support obligations in South Carolina. If one of the following events occurs, our family lawyer might help you stop making alimony payments:

Remarriage and Cohabitation

Most alimony obligations are terminable if your spouse remarries or lives with another partner. However, this does not terminate lump-sum alimony. Some of the most common but difficult cases involve remarriage or cohabitation with a romantic partner. You must have hard proof evidence, consecutive 90 days. We work with private investigators throughout the Tri-County area to get to the truth and determine if and how your alimony obligation should be terminated or modified.

Changed Circumstances

Alimony is terminable or modifiable based on substantial change in circumstances. The Family Court will ultimately determine what qualifies as a substantial change in circumstances, but examples include one spouse receiving a large inheritance or the paying spouse suffering from a long-term disability suffered after the original alimony award.

Death

Alimony automatically terminates upon the death of either party unless the court requires you to purchase life insurance on behalf of an ex-spouse.

If you believe you’re entitled to stop making alimony payments, contact our dedicated South Carolina spousal support termination lawyer today.

Trusted Alimony Termination Attorney in Charleston

The biggest mistake our clients make is ‘self-terminating’ alimony upon a qualifying event, such as remarriage, without a court order. You must continue to make court-ordered alimony payments even if you qualify to end your support obligations. The sooner you contact our dedicated Charleston alimony termination team, the quicker we can petition to end your payment obligations. Call (843) 809-0232 or connect online with our Moncks County family law firm serving the Tri-County area today.