Retirement now a potential ground for modifying alimony award
In the 2020 legislative session the Utah State legislature amended the Utah Code to provide that “regardless of whether a party’s retirement is foreseeable, the party’s retirement is a substantial material change in circumstances that is subject to a petition to modify alimony, unless the divorce decree expressly states otherwise.” Previous to the passing of this amendment the law in the state of Utah was that because retirement was a foreseeable event at the time of divorce and because foreseeable events are not a basis for seeking a modification of alimony retirement thus was not a triggering event for modifying or terminating alimony. But with this amendment (found in Utah Code § 30-3-5(10)(b)), that is no longer the case. This does not mean that retirement automatically entitles an alimony payor—or payee—to have the alimony obligation modified up or down, but it does now allow retirement to be raised as a basis for modifying or terminating alimony whereas up until now it could not.
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