On petition of either party the court may increase, decrease, or terminate spousal support as circumstances make proper. The payor’s attainment of full retirement age (normal Social Security retirement age) is statutorily a material change in circumstances. For defined-duration awards, modification cannot extend support beyond the ordered period. That is what separates Virginia modifying spousal support from a generic national summary. Read Va. Code § 20-109 before the background sections below. Support fixed by written agreement (e.g., a separation agreement) may be non-modifiable per its terms; pendente lite support ends at the final decree. On clear and convincing evidence that the recipient has habitually cohabited with another person in a marriage-analogous relationship for one year or more (since July 1, 1997), the court shall terminate support unless a contract provides otherwise or termination would be unconscionable. Death or remarriage also terminates support.
Grounds that most often succeed
- Retirement. Many states now treat reaching full retirement age as a presumptive or statutory ground. Early or voluntary retirement is scrutinized: courts ask whether it was in good faith, whether it was foreseeable at divorce, and whether the recipient had a chance to save.
- Involuntary income loss. Layoffs, business failure, disability, or industry collapse — with proof of diligent job-seeking. Voluntary underemployment is commonly met with income imputation instead of relief.
- The recipient's changed need. Improved earnings, remarriage-adjacent cohabitation, an inheritance, or reduced expenses.
- Health changes. New disability or extraordinary medical costs on either side.
- Cohabitation. On clear and convincing evidence that the recipient has habitually cohabited with another person in a marriage-analogous relationship for one year or more (since July 1, 1997), the court shall terminate support unless a contract provides otherwise or termination would be unconscionable. Death or remarriage also terminates support.
Grounds that rarely work: a new partner's income without statutory cohabitation, ordinary inflation, the payor's new family expenses standing alone, or a temporary dip in earnings.
Cohabitation and remarriage
On clear and convincing evidence that the recipient has habitually cohabited with another person in a marriage-analogous relationship for one year or more (since July 1, 1997), the court shall terminate support unless a contract provides otherwise or termination would be unconscionable. Death or remarriage also terminates support.
Cohabitation cases are intensely fact-driven: shared finances, shared household expenses, the relationship's public character, and its duration all matter. Virginia procedure requires proof — surveillance or speculation is not enough, and the recipient gets discovery and a hearing before payments stop. Until a court order issues, keep paying.
Step-by-step: how to file
- Read the decree and any incorporated agreement. Support fixed by written agreement (e.g., a separation agreement) may be non-modifiable per its terms; pendente lite support ends at the final decree. Confirm the court retained jurisdiction to modify.
- Confirm the forum. Modification goes to a petition to modify filed in the court that entered the order. If a party has moved away, UIFSA and registration rules determine where the petition belongs.
- Gather evidence dated to the change. Termination notices, disability awards, pension and Social Security statements, tax returns, medical records, or evidence of the recipient's cohabitation.
- File and serve promptly. Prospective from notice of the petition; no retroactive cancellation of arrears.
- Exchange financial disclosure. Many courts require updated financial affidavits; self-employment cases often add forensic accounting or a vocational expert.
- Seek temporary relief if needed. Where circumstances are dire, ask the court for interim reduction or suspension pending the full hearing — Virginia judges can grant temporary remedies in appropriate cases.
- Litigate, mediate, or stipulate. A settlement must be reduced to an order and entered before payment obligations change.
A concrete Virginia scenario
Here is one way the Virginia pieces fit together. Change any fact and the statute may point somewhere else.
A former spouse in Virginia asks to change periodic spousal support after retirement or a drop in income.
- File a petition to modify filed in the court that entered the order.
- Match the facts to the Virginia standard: On petition of either party the court may increase, decrease, or terminate spousal support as circumstances make proper. The payor’s attainment of full retirement age (normal Social Security retirement age) is statutorily a material change in circumstances. For defined-duration awards, modification cannot extend support beyond the ordered period.
- Check whether this award can be modified at all: Support fixed by written agreement (e.g., a separation agreement) may be non-modifiable per its terms; pendente lite support ends at the final decree.
- If the request is to end support, prove a trigger: On clear and convincing evidence that the recipient has habitually cohabited with another person in a marriage-analogous relationship for one year or more (since July 1, 1997), the court shall terminate support unless a contract provides otherwise or termination would be unconscionable. Death or remarriage also terminates support.
Prospective from notice of the petition; no retroactive cancellation of arrears. The forum is the circuit court or juvenile and domestic relations (J&DR) district court with jurisdiction, or the Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE).
When the change takes effect
Prospective from notice of the petition; no retroactive cancellation of arrears.
The corollary: unilaterally reducing or stopping payments before an order issues builds arrears, interest, and contempt exposure — even if you ultimately win the modification.
Awards that cannot be modified (or are hard to change)
Support fixed by written agreement (e.g., a separation agreement) may be non-modifiable per its terms; pendente lite support ends at the final decree.
Common traps:
- Lump-sum or property-division awards styled as spousal support are usually final when entered.
- Agreement language that waives modification binds the parties even though the statute would allow a petition.
- Expired terms — once a fixed term lapses, most states will not revive it; a timely pre-expiration motion is critical.
- Jurisdiction reservations — in some states, if the decree did not expressly reserve jurisdiction to modify, no later court can.
Case law: how Virginia courts decide spousal support modification
These LawDiver opinions show how Virginia appellate courts weigh changed circumstances, retirement, and cohabitation:
J. S. Eaton v. Henrietta V. Davis
J. S. Eaton v. Henrietta V. Davis, 176 Va. 330 (1940)
…enrietta Davis (formerly Henrietta Eaton) $50 per month, as alimony. That portion of the decree is as follows: and it is, therefore, Adjudged, Ordered, and Decreed that the said J. S. Eaton pay unto the said Henrietta V. Davis, as alimony, but not in any event for a longer period than their joint lives, for the maintenance of Henrietta V. Davis, the sum of fifty dollars per…
Practitioners open J. S. Eaton v. Henrietta V. Davis when Virginia spousal support modification turns on the distinction in this sentence: "Davis (formerly Henrietta Eaton) $50 per month, as alimony. That portion of the decree is as follows: and it is, therefore, Adjudged, Ordered, and Decreed that the said J. S. Eaton pay unto the said Henrietta V." Do not lift it out of the facts the court was deciding.
Keith A. STILES v. Pamela L. STILES
Keith A. STILES v. Pamela L. STILES, 48 Va. App. 449 (2006)
…mother filed a Motion for Modification of Child Support and Alimony on the ground that the father had increased his income through other employment and “had been awarded $3.1 million dollars in a lawsuit.” The cover letter that accompanied the petition to the clerk specifically requested that the ease not be placed on the Court’s docket “at this time.” The petition was served o…
Practitioners open Keith A. STILES v. Pamela L. STILES when Virginia spousal support modification turns on the distinction in this sentence: "Motion for Modification of Child Support and Alimony on the ground that the father had increased his income through other employment and “had been awarded $3.1 million dollars in a lawsuit." Do not lift it out of the facts the court was deciding.
Marilyn K. Alig v. Robert Alan Alig
Marilyn K. Alig v. Robert Alan Alig, 220 Va. 80 (1979)
…cree directed Alig to pay his former wife $300 per month as alimony. Alig, who moved to Virginia Beach shortly after his divorce, kept the alimony payments required by the divorce decree current through July of 1972. However, he made no payments for the months of August, 1972 through December, 1975. Alig testified that his failure to make alimony payments during this period res…
Practitioners open Marilyn K. Alig v. Robert Alan Alig when Virginia spousal support modification turns on the distinction in this sentence: "Alig to pay his former wife $300 per month as alimony. Alig, who moved to Virginia Beach shortly after his divorce, kept the alimony payments required by the divorce decree current through July of 1972." Do not lift it out of the facts the court was deciding.
Brinn v. Brinn
Brinn v. Brinn, 147 Va. 277 (1927)
…hancery of the city of Norfolk, in the suit for divorce and alimony of Mary M. Brinn (the appellee here) against George C. Brinn (the appellant here), the said Mary M. Brinn was granted and awarded a divorce a vinculo matrimonii from the said George C. Brinn, and the latter was directed to pay her as alimony, which was decreed to be a-lien on his real estate, the sum of $1,500…
Practitioners open Brinn v. Brinn when Virginia spousal support modification turns on the distinction in this sentence: "Norfolk, in the suit for divorce and alimony of Mary M. Brinn (the appellee here) against George C. Brinn (the appellant here), the said Mary M. Brinn was granted and awarded a divorce a vinculo matrimonii from the said George C." Do not lift it out of the facts the court was deciding.
COMMONWEALTH of Virginia, Virginia DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT, Ex Rel
…iction over the husband, noting that a proceeding to reduce alimony arrears to judgment is not a new and independent action but merely a step taken in the original matrimonial action; that having obtained jurisdiction of the defendant husband in the original proceeding such jurisdiction remains unimpaired. Id. at 291, 148 S.E.2d at 773. See also Shinn v. Kreul, 311 S.C. 94, 427…
Virginia opinions such as COMMONWEALTH of Virginia, Virginia DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT, Ex Rel are cited where spousal support modification is disputed. The court stated: "Id. at 291, 148 S.E.2d at 773. See also Shinn v. Kreul, 311 S.C." That is the language to brief; the rest of the decision supplies the procedural posture.
Harry P. Price, Jr. v. Brenda Lee Logwood Price and Department of Social Services Division of Child Support Enforcement
…eement required the defendant to pay $1,200.00 per month as alimony to the defendant. Accordingly, the defendant’s total obligation to the plaintiff under the separation agreement was $2,200.00 per month. (e) This separation agreement was modified by these parties on 25 February 1986. Thereafter, the defendant was required to pay $400.00 per month in alimony to the plaintiff an…
On spousal support modification, Harry P. Price, Jr. v. Brenda Lee Logwood Price and Department of Social Services Division of Child Support Enforcement speaks to the Virginia dispute in this passage: "Accordingly, the defendant’s total obligation to the plaintiff under the separation agreement was $2,200.00 per month. (e) This separation agreement was modified by these parties on 25 February 1986. Thereafter, the defendant was required to pay $400." The surrounding opinion shows how the court applied that language to the record.
Clifton A. FRANKLIN v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT
…husband) appeals the circuit court’s order to pay child and spousal support. Husband argues the trial court erred in: (1) finding that the service of process for the juvenile and domestic relations district court proceedings was sufficient; (2) finding that the trial court and the Division of Child Support Enforcement have jurisdiction over the person of husband; and (3) revers…
Virginia opinions such as Clifton A. FRANKLIN v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT are cited where spousal support modification is disputed. The court stated: "husband) appeals the circuit court’s order to pay child and spousal support. Husband argues the trial court erred in: (1) finding that the service of process for the juvenile and domestic relations district court proceedings was sufficient; (2) finding that the trial court and th" That is the language to brief; the rest of the decision supplies the procedural posture.
Edward W. ADCOCK v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT
…ting cases). Still others have held "proceedings to enforce alimony and child support orders are equitable proceedings that are not barred by the statute of limitations." Brumby v. Brumby, 647 So.2d 330, 331 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1994). Here, the majority holds based upon Bennett, that as to the spousal support obligation the twenty-year statute of limitations period begins to run o…
Edward W. ADCOCK v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT is worth reading on Virginia spousal support modification because the court put the point in its own words: "Still others have held 'proceedings to enforce alimony and child support orders are equitable proceedings that are not barred by the statute of limitations.' Brumby v. Brumby, 647 So.2d 330, 331 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1994)." Use that passage as the starting point, then read the facts that precede it.
Practical checklist before you file
- Identify which type of spousal support your decree awards — the modification rules differ by type.
- Confirm the decree or agreement does not bar modification.
- Document the change with third-party records, not just testimony.
- For retirement motions: assemble pension statements, Social Security estimates, the divorce-era financial disclosures, and evidence of good faith.
- For cohabitation petitions: gather admissible evidence and expect a discovery fight and an evidentiary hearing.
- Keep paying until the new order is signed; calendar the effective-date rules under Va. Code § 20-109.
- Search LawDiver for recent Virginia appellate decisions before filing.
Key takeaways
- Virginia calls these payments spousal support, governed for modification purposes by Va. Code § 20-109.
- The legal standard: On petition of either party the court may increase, decrease, or terminate spousal support as circumstances make proper.
- Prospective from notice of the petition; no retroactive cancellation of arrears.
- Termination events: On clear and convincing evidence that the recipient has habitually cohabited with another person in a marriage-analogous relationship for one year or more (since July 1, 1997), the court shall terminate support unless a contract provides otherwise or termination would be unconscionable.
- Support fixed by written agreement (e.g., a separation agreement) may be non-modifiable per its terms; pendente lite support ends at the final decree.
- File in petition to modify filed in the court that entered the order — do not wait: Prospective from notice of the petition; no retroactive cancellation of arrears.
- Companion reading: Virginia spousal support guide and how to modify child support in Virginia.
The legal standard in Virginia
On petition of either party the court may increase, decrease, or terminate spousal support as circumstances make proper. The payor’s attainment of full retirement age (normal Social Security retirement age) is statutorily a material change in circumstances. For defined-duration awards, modification cannot extend support beyond the ordered period.
Courts start from the decree, not from scratch. The judge asks what the parties and the court knew when spousal support was set, what has changed since, and whether the change is significant and durable enough to make the existing terms unreasonable. The moving party carries the burden, and documentation — tax returns, pension statements, medical records, lease agreements — decides most of these cases.
Frequently asked questions
Can spousal support be modified in Virginia?
Yes, in most cases. On petition of either party the court may increase, decrease, or terminate spousal support as circumstances make proper. The payor’s attainment of full retirement age (normal Social Security retirement age) is statutorily a material change in circumstances. For defined-duration awards, modification cannot extend support beyond the ordered period.
Does retirement end spousal support in Virginia?
Retirement is a recognized ground in Virginia — Va. Code § 20-109 governs how courts weigh it. Reaching normal retirement age carries more weight than early or voluntary retirement, and the recipient's own retirement readiness is considered.
Does my ex's cohabitation stop spousal support?
On clear and convincing evidence that the recipient has habitually cohabited with another person in a marriage-analogous relationship for one year or more (since July 1, 1997), the court shall terminate support unless a contract provides otherwise or termination would be unconscionable. Death or remarriage also terminates support. You must petition the court and prove the statutory elements — the obligation does not end by operation of the new relationship alone until a judge so orders (unless Virginia's statute makes termination automatic on remarriage).
Can spousal support be increased?
Yes, where the statute permits. Recipients who prove a material increase in need — often medical — can seek upward modification, subject to the payor's ability to pay.
Can Virginia courts modify spousal support retroactively?
Prospective from notice of the petition; no retroactive cancellation of arrears.
What if my spousal support was set by agreement?
Support fixed by written agreement (e.g., a separation agreement) may be non-modifiable per its terms; pendente lite support ends at the final decree. Agreements matter: read the incorporated terms before assuming a petition will be heard on ordinary changed-circumstances grounds.
Related guides
- How Virginia calculates child support
- Virginia spousal support / alimony guide
- How to modify spousal support in Virginia
- How to modify child support in Virginia
Disclaimer
This guide is general legal information about modifying spousal support in Virginia, not legal advice. Statutes and case law change. Confirm the current text of Va. Code § 20-109 and consult a licensed Virginia family-law attorney about your decree before filing or changing payments.