Alimony's Job Lock

24 Pages Posted: 18 Apr 2015 Last revised: 29 Apr 2016

Date Written: April 18, 2015

Abstract

In family law, courts often prevent people who owe alimony from changing jobs. If a job change is accompanied by a salary decrease, the court will not necessarily readjust the alimony obligation and instead impute the higher income to the obligor. This Article introduces the term “job lock” to describe this situation, borrowing the term from the health care context, wherein job immobility due to health insurance concerns has received significant scrutiny. This Article draws similar attention to the alimony context, proposing a balancing test to assist courts interested in alleviating job lock under certain circumstances.

Keywords: family law, domestic relations, alimony, divorce, property division

Suggested Citation

Ryznar, Margaret, Alimony's Job Lock (April 18, 2015). Akron Law Review, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 91-113, 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2595955

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