As the year winds down, this is the time when most people decide to re-evaluate what’s going on in their lives. If you’ve gone through a divorce it might be worth revisiting where you stand in regard to your agreements.
Your divorce agreement is not written in stone. Most courts understand that circumstances tend to change for people after a divorce for a variety of reasons. Keep that in mind if you’ve gone through any of these situations in the last year, regardless of when you got a divorce:
Moved to a new home
Moving to a new home often means moving to a new community. Maybe your new neighborhood is much more expensive and what you can afford to pay in support, or what you need to cover expenses from support, changes.
You had a change in employment
If you are paying child or spousal support, and you lose your job, you simply cannot cover the same payments anymore. The agreement should be modified to reflect the new reality you face.
Your ex received a windfall
Similarly, if your ex’s financial situation changes drastically and suddenly, after an inheritance or coming into money in some other way, you may not need to pay the same amount of spousal support that you did before.
Your child changes schools
Most child support arrangements take education costs into consideration. However, if your child moves from private school to public school, or vice versa, this aspect of your divorce agreement must be revisited.
A living document
Your divorce agreements are living, in the sense that they grow and change with you as needed to ensure their fairness. If you find yourself taking stock in the next month and your situation is truly different from the time of your divorce, no matter when your divorce happened, you have options available to you.