According to article 174 of the Family Code “the alimony benefit may be modified by the change of circumstances of who provides or who receives it.” Therefore, the change or modification of the amount of the alimony will only proceed when there is a change of circumstances (almost in all cases due to labor and economic changes) of who has the obligation to provide it or from whom is entitled to receive it.

The reduction of the alimony must be requested by the party which has the obligation to pay it, through a motion of reduction of alimony, which is filed within the same process of alimony already existing. Along with the request for the reduction, the requesting party must demonstrate the change of circumstances that justifies the reduction with all relevant and proper evidence. They must demonstrate that there is a change in their current economic possibilities which makes it necessary to reduce the alimony payment.

It is important to mention that if the obligated party loses his job or his usual means of income, he must file a request before the Court to be granted a special permit to look for a job, process which is completely independent from the motion for reduction, since it is processed in an more agile and fast way, contrary to a reduction process, which must go through defined procedural stages, such as the answer to the motion, conciliation hearing and others stages that will be mentioned later on.

With the motion for the reduction, the obligated party must provide the Judge with all the evidence that proves that there was indeed a change of circumstances, as this is essential once the Judge issues a ruling. The party that receives the alimony will have the opportunity to file an answer to the motion, where he/she will indicate every reason why he/she does not agree with the request for reduction, attaching also the counterevidence he/she may have.

As in all alimony proceedings, the Court will appoint a conciliation hearing, where both parties will have the opportunity to reach an agreement on the amount of alimony to be provided. If the conciliation is successful, the Judge will review and approve the agreement and the new amount agreed will be set as the new alimony support.
If the parties do not reach an agreement in such a hearing, a second hearing will be appointed for the Judge to review all the evidence that was offered by both parties. This evidence may be documentary, witness testimonials and/or the deposition of either party.

Once the hearing is over and the evidence has been gathered, the Judge must determine, after evaluating all available elements, whether a reduction in the alimony support is necessary or, otherwise, whether the actual fixed amount should be left unchanged.

These processes are of great importance, especially if there is a risk of not being able to fully comply with this obligation, which could potentially expose the obligated party to imprisonment due to civil contempt.

In case you require advice regarding alimony proceedings or any other family law process, ERP Lawyers has a specialized team at your disposal. Do not hesitate to contact us at info@erplawyers.com