GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
The belief is widespread and wrong: that alimony stops when the recipient moves in with someone. In Connecticut it does not, and the gap between what people expect and what the statute requires produces a steady stream of post-judgment litigation.
C.G.S. §46b-86(b) lets a court modify, suspend, reduce, or terminate alimony where the recipient is living with another person under circumstances that have altered the recipient’s financial needs.
Both halves are required. The living arrangement alone is not enough. A recipient can be in a serious relationship, share a home, and remain entitled to the same alimony if their financial needs have not changed.
What moves a case is evidence about money: shared rent or mortgage, a partner covering expenses the recipient used to pay, reduced household costs, pooled finances.
Most modifications require a substantial change in circumstances under §46b-86(a). Cohabitation under subsection (b) is its own provision with its own test. Where the facts fit, it can be a more direct path than arguing general changed circumstances.
A finding of cohabitation opens the door. It does not dictate what happens next. The court may terminate alimony, reduce it, suspend it while the arrangement lasts, or leave it alone — applying the same statutory factors that governed the original award.
Suspecting cohabitation is not the same as proving it. What matters is the financial effect, which usually requires evidence beyond the fact that two people live together.
Filing also carries a cost. If the motion fails, you have spent money and potentially worsened a relationship you still have to manage around children.
Being in a new relationship does not put your alimony at risk by itself. What creates exposure is a change in what you need, and how your household finances actually operate.
It is worth understanding this before the arrangement, not after a motion is filed.
Some judgments address cohabitation directly, with their own definition and consequence. Where that language exists, it may control. Reading the decree is always the first step.
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Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
