Can You Modify Alimony if Your Settlement Agreement Only Mentions Remarriage?
Many Florida marital settlement agreements state that alimony will continue until a certain event, such as the recipient’s remarriage. Years later, one former spouse may ask whether that language means alimony can never be changed for any other reason.
A recent Florida appeals court decision answers that question and offers a useful reminder for anyone negotiating or living under an alimony agreement in Miami.
Florida Court Rules Remarriage Clause Did Not Waive the Right to Modify Alimony
In Gonzalez v. Gonzalez, the parties divorced in 2013. Their marital settlement agreement required the former husband to pay alimony each pay period and stated that the obligation “should remain in affect until [the former wife] is remarried.”
In 2024, the former husband stopped paying. The former wife moved for contempt. The former husband then filed a petition to terminate or reduce alimony, citing his retirement after his employer left the state and a decrease in the former wife’s need. The trial court ruled that the agreement allowed alimony to end only upon remarriage and refused to consider his modification petition. It also held him in contempt and ordered him to pay the arrearage.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the ruling on modification. Under Florida law, the right to seek modification of alimony is built into every alimony agreement unless the parties clearly waive it. A waiver must be stated expressly or be the only fair reading of the agreement as a whole. Here, the agreement never said alimony was nonmodifiable. The remarriage language simply identified one event that would end alimony. It did not make remarriage the only way alimony could change. The case was sent back for the trial court to consider the modification petition on its merits.
The contempt ruling, however, was left in place. The former husband did not challenge the finding that he had the ability to pay and willfully failed to do so.
Lessons for Former Spouses in Miami
This case teaches two lessons. First, the exact words in a settlement agreement matter. If parties intend for alimony to be nonmodifiable, Florida courts expect the agreement to say so clearly. Silence on modification generally preserves the right to ask a court for a change.
Second, a paying spouse should not simply stop paying while seeking a modification. Until a court changes the order, the existing obligation remains enforceable, and stopping payments can lead to contempt and an arrearage judgment.
How Mediation Can Help With Alimony Agreements and Modifications
Whether parties are drafting an alimony agreement or dealing with changed circumstances years later, mediation gives them an opportunity to address these issues directly. A mediator with family law experience can help parties consider whether alimony should be modifiable, under what circumstances it should end, and how to state those terms clearly. After a divorce, mediation can also help former spouses work through a proposed modification before a contested hearing.
Speak With a Miami Alimony Attorney
If you have questions about modifying, enforcing, or negotiating alimony, an experienced Miami alimony attorney can review your agreement and explain your options under Florida law.
Daniel Umbert of TNL MIAMI is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator and experienced family law attorney who helps former spouses address alimony issues through mediation. Contact TNL MIAMI to learn more.
Source:
Gonzalez v. Gonzalez, No. 4D2025-2461 (Fla. 4th DCA Aug. 19, 2026)
