You lost the job, or your ex-spouse’s income doubled, or retirement is finally in sight. The alimony figure was set years ago against a life neither of you is living now. Modifying alimony in South Carolina is possible, but only for some forms of it, and only on a showing the statute defines.

What the statute actually requires

S.C. Code § 20-3-170(A) is the modification provision. It applies where a spouse has been required to make “periodic payments of alimony” and “the circumstances of the parties or the financial ability of the spouse making the periodic payments shall have changed since the rendition of such judgment.”

Either party may then apply to the court that rendered the judgment for an order decreasing, increasing, confirming, or terminating the payments. The court hears both sides and makes the order “as justice and equity shall require, with due regard to the changed circumstances and the financial ability of the supporting spouse.”

Two things follow from that text. The change must have happened since the original judgment — you cannot relitigate facts the first court already weighed. And confirming the existing amount is one of the outcomes the statute expressly contemplates, so filing does not mean the number will move.

Not every form of alimony is modifiable

This is the threshold question, and it is decided by what the original order awarded rather than by how much your life has changed.

There is a second gate, and in this market it catches more people than the first. Most alimony here is set by an agreement the family court approved, and the parties are allowed to put modification off the table when they write it. S.C. Code § 20-3-130(G) says the parties “may agree in writing if properly approved by the court to make the payment of alimony as set forth in items (1) through (6) of subsection (B) nonmodifiable and not subject to subsequent modification by the court.”

The courts take that literally. In Degenhart v. Burriss, 360 S.C. 497, 602 S.E.2d 96 (Ct. App. 2004), the family court held it had no authority to modify a husband’s alimony because the agreement said so, and the Court of Appeals agreed: once an alimony agreement that specifically disallows modification is approved by the court and merged into a judicial order, “it is binding on the parties and the court and is not subject to modification.”

So before anything else, read your own agreement. If it contains a nonmodifiability clause that the court approved, the form of alimony you were awarded may not matter at all.

Section 20-3-130(B)(1) makes periodic alimony “terminable and modifiable based upon changed circumstances occurring in the future.” Subsection (B)(5) does the same for separate maintenance and support. Those are the freely modifiable forms.

Lump-sum alimony under § 20-3-130(B)(2) is “not terminable or modifiable based upon remarriage or changed circumstances in the future.” Reimbursement alimony under § 20-3-130(B)(4) carries the same restriction. Rehabilitative alimony sits in between: § 20-3-130(B)(3) allows modification only on unforeseen events frustrating the supported spouse’s good faith efforts to become self-supporting, or the supporting spouse’s ability to pay.

Our post on whether nonmodifiable alimony in South Carolina can ever be changed goes further into that boundary.

Retirement gets its own rule

South Carolina addresses retirement expressly, which many states do not. Section 20-3-170(B) provides that retirement by the supporting spouse “is sufficient grounds to warrant a hearing, if so moved by a party, to evaluate whether there has been a change of circumstances for alimony.”

Read that carefully: retirement entitles you to a hearing, not to a reduction. The court must then consider six factors:

• —whether retirement was contemplated when alimony was awarded;
• —the age of the supporting spouse;
• —the health of the supporting spouse;
• —whether the retirement is mandatory or voluntary;
• —whether retirement would result in a decrease in the supporting spouse’s income; and
• —any other factors the court sees fit.

The first and fourth factors are where these cases are won and lost. A retirement the original decree already anticipated is a weaker basis for change, and a voluntary early retirement invites the argument that the reduction in income was chosen rather than suffered.

What age alone will not do is decide it. In Fuller v. Fuller, 397 S.C. 155, 723 S.E.2d 235 (Ct. App. 2012), a family court reduced a husband’s alimony on the strength of his age, and expressly declined to hear evidence about whether he could still work. The Court of Appeals reversed:

We decline to adopt a bright-line rule that, where the supporting spouse reaches a particular age, that age alone is sufficient to justify a reduction or termination of alimony. Rather, the court should consider all relevant evidence and determine whether there has been a substantial or material, unanticipated change in circumstances warranting a reduction in a supporting spouse’s alimony obligation.

Two things to take from that. Reducing alimony on age alone is an error of law. And the change has to be UNANTICIPATED — which is why the first statutory factor, whether retirement was contemplated when alimony was awarded, does so much work. A retirement everybody saw coming when the decree was written is not a surprise.

What tends to count as a change

The statute does not list qualifying changes for the general case, which leaves the argument to the facts. An involuntary job loss, a serious illness affecting earning capacity, a substantial and lasting increase in the supported spouse’s income, or a genuine change in need are the usual candidates.

What generally does not work: a voluntary reduction in income, a change that was foreseeable and already priced into the original award, or a temporary dip. The word doing the work is substantial — a modest fluctuation is not a change of circumstances.

Whether the original award was periodic in the first place often traces back to the length of the marriage and the parties’ positions — see our post on when South Carolina courts favour permanent periodic support.

Termination is different from modification

Some endings are built into the award rather than requiring a change of circumstances. Periodic alimony terminates on the supported spouse’s remarriage or continued cohabitation, or on the death of either spouse, under § 20-3-130(B)(1).

Continued cohabitation has a statutory definition worth knowing: the supported spouse residing with another person in a romantic relationship for ninety or more consecutive days, and the court may find it where shorter periods are used to circumvent the ninety-day line.

Practical points before you file

Start from the fact that this is your case to make. In King v. King, 400 S.C. 611, 735 S.E.2d 551 (Ct. App. 2012), the Court of Appeals put it in one line: “in the modification context, the party seeking the modification has the burden of proof, and therefore must argue which factors are important and demonstrate why.” The same case makes a related point that surprises people — the family court does not have to make findings on every statutory factor when it refuses to modify. It is on you to say which ones matter and show it.

• —Read the decree first. The form of alimony awarded decides whether modification is available at all.
• —Document the change with records — pay stubs, medical evidence, a termination letter — rather than testimony alone.
• —Keep paying until the court says otherwise. Self-help reductions create arrears, not leverage.
• —If retirement is coming, the timing and whether it was contemplated in the original order both matter.
• —Remember that confirming the current amount is a possible outcome under § 20-3-170(A).

Frequently asked questions

Can alimony be modified if I lose my job?

An involuntary job loss is the classic changed circumstance for periodic alimony under § 20-3-170(A). The court will look at whether the loss was genuinely involuntary and whether it is lasting rather than temporary.

Does retiring automatically end my alimony?

No. Section 20-3-170(B) makes retirement sufficient grounds for a hearing, and then requires the court to weigh six factors, including whether the retirement was contemplated when alimony was awarded and whether it is mandatory or voluntary.

My ex-spouse moved in with a partner. Does alimony stop?

Periodic alimony terminates on continued cohabitation, defined as residing with another person in a romantic relationship for ninety or more consecutive days. You still need to bring the issue to the court rather than stopping payment yourself.

I agreed to lump-sum alimony and now I cannot afford it. Any options?

Under § 20-3-130(B)(2) lump-sum alimony is not modifiable on changed circumstances. That is the trade-off for its certainty, and it is why the form of the award deserves as much attention as the amount.

Talk to a Charleston family law attorney

Whether an alimony obligation can move at all is usually settled by the wording of an order signed years ago. Klok Law Firm handles South Carolina family law in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties. Call Klok Law at (843) 701-1695 to discuss your options.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, contact Klok Law at (843) 701-1695.