In the words of television’s Sophia Petrillo, “Picture it:” Tennessee, 1984. You marry your sweetheart and the two of you decide that you’ll stay home and raise the children, while he goes to work. Now it’s thirty years later and he’s lost his job, and suddenly he’s fighting you over his alimony payments.

Sound familiar? Sadly, it does to us. The truth is a change in employment can affect spousal support payments, but it depends on what type of alimony you were awarded. In some cases, even if your spouse can’t meet the agreed upon terms of the divorce decree, he will not be able to obtain a modification.

If you’re currently going through a divorce and your spouse loses his/her job, it could affect how much your payments are. The judge will look at the earning capacity of both you and your spouse, and may decide on an amount based on that number.

What to do if your spouse quits his/her job

Let’s say you work a typical 9:00 to 5:00 job, whereas your soon-to-be-ex-wife is self-employed. For the years of your marriage, the two of you both contributed to your household financially – but not you’re in the process of getting divorced, and she threatens to stop working altogether in order to collect alimony.

This is another good reason why you need an experienced Tennessee lawyer. If you can prove that your wife contributed to the household equally, or that she quit working with the sole purpose of trying to collect alimony from you, she may not be able to obtain an award. However, if your monetary contributions were unequal, she may be eligible after all.

The most important decision you can make is to see a family lawyer who has experience in the area of divorce. Alimony can be an incredibly complex area of the law. You want someone on your side who has the skills to help you.