Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 30-2-55 (2026)
Termination of Alimony Upon Remarriage or Cohabitation with Another Individual.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
(a) For the purposes of this section, “cohabiting” means the act of two adults dwelling together continually and habitually in a private heterosexual or homosexual relationship, even if the relationship is not solemnized by marriage, evidenced by the voluntary mutual assumption of those marital rights, duties, and obligations that are usually manifested by married individuals, and which include, but are not necessarily dependent on, sexual relations.
(b) Any decree of divorce providing for periodic payments of alimony shall be modified by the court to provide for the termination of the alimony upon petition of a party to the decree and proof that the spouse receiving alimony has remarried or that the spouse is cohabiting with another individual.
(Acts 1978, No. 596, p. 718; Acts 1979, No. 79-241, p. 368; Acts 1981, No. 81-155, p. 179; Act 2022-430, §1.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 69
cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1979–2026 · leading case: Scott v. Scott, 38 So. 3d 79 (Ala. Civ. App. 2009).
Scott v. Scott, 38 So. 3d 79 (Ala. Civ. App. 2009). “The former wife, who is a legal secretary, testified that she had consulted both Ala.Code 1975, § 30-2-55, and some of the caselaw addressing that code section when she was served with the former husband's petition to terminate alimony.”
Rose v. Rose, 70 So. 3d 429 (Ala. Civ. App. 2011). “In response, the former husband argued that the former wife’s award, which he claimed was an award of periodic alimony, should be modified based on a change in circumstances or be terminated under Ala.Code 1975, § 30-2-55, because, he said, the former wife was cohabiting with a…”
Ex Parte Murphy, 886 So. 2d 90 (Ala. 2003). “This Court issued the writ to address the sole question whether, in light § 30-2-55, Ala.Code 1975, the circuit court could incorporate into the divorce judgment the parties' agreement that Murphy would continue paying Benvenuto periodic alimony after her remarriage.”
Oliver v. Oliver, 431 So. 2d 1271 (Ala. Civ. App. 1983). “In 1981 husband sought termination of the requirements of the decree as to periodic alimony under § 30-2-55, Code of Alabama 1975, because of the remarriage of the wife.”
TenEyck v. TenEyck, 885 So. 2d 146 (Ala. Civ. App. 2003). “2d 856, 858 (Ala.Civ.App.1999). The paying spouse's duty to pay periodic alimony may be terminated by petition and proof that the recipient spouse has remarried or is cohabiting with a member of the opposite sex.”
Adkins v. Adkins, 61 So. 3d 1071 (Ala. Civ. App. 2010). “Ala.Code 1975, § 30-2-55. 4 This is true even in cases in which the parties have expressly stated their intent that the periodic-alimony payments will survive the remarriage of the recipient spouse.”
Harrison v. Harrison, 514 So. 2d 1026 (Ala. Civ. App. 1986). “He based this request upon Ala.Code (1975), § 30-2-55, which requires the termination of periodic alimony upon the remarriage of the party receiving such alimony.”
J.L.M. v. S.A.K., 18 So. 3d 384 (Ala. Civ. App. 2008). “” By its plain terms, § 30-2-55 requires a court to terminate periodic alimony upon proof that the former spouse receiving alimony is “living openly or cohabiting with a member of the opposite sex.”
Henderson v. Mogren, 149 So. 3d 629 (Ala. Civ. App. 2014). “In Sanders , we indicated that a payor spouse’s paying alimony into an escrow account until a trial court could determine *637 that he or she was no longer obligated to pay alimony was an appropriate option for a payor spouse who had a good-faith belief that the recipient spouse…”
Swindle v. Swindle, 55 So. 3d 1234 (Ala. Civ. App. 2010). ““ ‘It is a question of fact for the trial court to determine as to whether a former spouse is living openly or cohabiting with a member of the opposite sex in order to authorize a termination of periodic alimony under § 30-2-55, Code of Alabama 1975. The burden of proof as to…”
Lori Hood v. Scott Hood., 76 So. 3d 824 (Ala. Civ. App. 2011). “Ala. Code 1975, § 30-2-55.” 841 So.2d at 1250 .”
Heaston v. Nabors, 889 So. 2d 588 (Ala. Civ. App. 2004). “See § 30-2-55, Ala.Code 1975 (providing that a former spouse's periodic-alimony obligation terminates when the receiving spouse remarries or cohabitates).”
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