7.6 Modification & Termination

Interim and final support can be modified when there is a material change in circumstance and terminated when it becomes unnecessary, but remarriage of the payor spouse is not grounds for modification or termination.1

Both forms of support terminate upon the remarriage of the claiming spouse, the death of either party, or a judicial determination that the claiming spouse has cohabitated with another person in the “manner of married persons.”2  Obviously, this is a fact-specific determination. If your client intends to introduce evidence of such cohabitation, be sure that you provide evidence to the court beyond your client’s allegations. To terminate support, the cohabitation cannot be merely a casual romantic relationship. Proof could be witness testimony that they call each other “husband and wife,” bills going to the payor’s residence that are in the romantic partner’s name, or other such evidence.

Except for good cause shown, an award of interim support terminates 180 days after the divorce judgment.3  “Good cause” has not been defined by our courts and must be determined on a case-by-case basis. An example of “good cause” might be the claimant’s disability or a situation in which the claimant is prevented from seeking employment due to circumstances beyond the claimant’s control. Another example might be where the payor spouse is unduly delaying the community property partition to starve the other spouse.

The prior law, providing that interim support awarded while a claim for final support was pending terminated when final support judgment was rendered, has been repealed. Final spousal support obligations now begin only after any interim support obligation has terminated.4

Unlike interim spousal support, which cannot be waived in advance by the parties, the parties can modify, waive, or terminate a right to final periodic spousal support by an authentic act, an act under private signature duly acknowledged, or judicial declaration.5

• 1La. C.C. art. 114.
• 2La. C.C. art. 115.
• 3La. C.C. art. 113(A).
• 4La. C.C. art. 113(B).
• 5La. C.C. art. 116.