When Does Alimony End In Massachusetts?

Alimony in Massachusetts ends when one of a handful of things happens. The durational limit set by statute runs out. The paying spouse reaches full retirement age. The recipient remarries. The recipient cohabitates with a new partner and the court suspends, reduces or terminates the order. Either party dies. Or the parties agreed to something different in a surviving agreement, in which case the agreement controls.

Which of those applies to you, and when, depends on the type of alimony, the length of the marriage and the words in your judgment. Here is how it actually works.

The Alimony Reform Act, G.L. c. 208 secs. 48 through 55, ties the maximum duration of general term alimony to the length of the marriage. For a marriage of five years or less, general term alimony runs no longer than half the number of months of the marriage. More than five but not more than ten years, sixty percent. More than ten but not more than fifteen, seventy percent. More than fifteen but not more than twenty, eighty percent. For a marriage longer than twenty years, there is no fixed durational limit and duration sits in the court’s discretion.

Two cautions. First, the length of the marriage is measured from the date of the marriage to the date of service of the divorce complaint, and the court has some latitude to adjust that in unusual circumstances. Second, these are ceilings, not entitlements. A judge can order less, and the parties can agree to less.

Under the Act, general term alimony orders terminate when the payor reaches full retirement age as defined for Social Security purposes. That termination is the statutory default, not an absolute rule. A judge can deviate for good cause found in writing, and the parties can agree in a surviving agreement that alimony continues past retirement.

If you are negotiating a divorce in your fifties, do not leave retirement to be fought about later. Write it into the agreement now. It is one of the cheapest problems to solve early and one of the most expensive to litigate at sixty-six.

General term alimony terminates when the recipient remarries. Cohabitation is different and more nuanced: where the recipient has maintained a common household with a new partner for at least three months, the court may suspend, reduce or terminate the alimony order. Cohabitation fights are fact fights. They turn on shared address, shared expenses, how the couple holds itself out, and they are won with evidence, not suspicion.

General term alimony gets the attention, but the Act recognizes three others. Rehabilitative alimony supports a recipient who is expected to become self-sufficient by a predicted time, and generally runs no more than five years. Reimbursement alimony compensates a spouse who supported the other through school or training in a shorter marriage, and it is not modifiable. Transitional alimony helps a spouse adjust to a new lifestyle or location after a short marriage, and it also is not modifiable. Each has its own ending rules, which is one more reason the label on your order matters.

All of the rules above are defaults. If your separation agreement addressed alimony and that provision survives the judgment as an independent contract, the agreement generally controls over the statute, and it is much harder to change. If the provision merged into the judgment, it can be modified on a material change of circumstances. Most people do not know which one they signed. Find out before you plan around either answer.

The Act took effect in 2012 and included transition rules for older orders, including the ability in many cases to seek modification based on the new durational limits. If you are paying on an order entered before 2012, it is worth a review. Some payors are years past the limit the statute would now impose and have never asked.

The question is never what the statute says in general. It is what your judgment says, what survives, and what the dates are. Bring your judgment and your agreement, and we will give you the actual answer. Call 781.531.8673.

The limit caps the order, but payors should not simply stop paying without reviewing the judgment. If the order or a surviving agreement says something different, stopping unilaterally creates arrears. Confirm before you act.

General term alimony terminates on the recipient’s remarriage. A surviving agreement can provide otherwise, which is rare but not unheard of. Read the agreement.

Often, yes, unless your agreement or judgment already addresses retirement cleanly. Talk to a lawyer before you stop paying. The sequence matters.