Does permanent alimony last forever?
There are many cases that have PSA’s with permanent alimony provisions in them. A key issue is whether an agreement that contains permanent alimony provisions must under all of the circumstances be construed as an irrevocable permanent obligation. There are many cases wherein a “permanent alimony” agreement was reached prior to the enactment of the Limited Duration Alimony statute. Prior to September 13, 1999, only permanent and rehabilitative alimony were recognized by statute. Before the statute, parties or courts only had the legal option to agree to permanent alimony or to no alimony. Therefore, prior to September 13, 1999, in most divorce cases the courts awarded permanent alimony for the majority of the mid-length marriages. A mid-length marriage is basically construed to be any marriage ten to fifteen years. If these cases were tried today then in about one half of these cases, the permanent alimony would be reduced to only limited duration alimony award. Now, after a substantia
