I get a lot of questions from client regarding spousal maintenance (or alimony) and when it terminates. No matter how much maintenance is awarded or how long the duration of the maintenance is, in all cases maintenance ends upon remarriage of the recipient spouse, cohabitation of the recipient spouse with another man or woman (even if you are not legally married), or death of either party. This is codified in DRL § 248. The following cases discuss the three ways in which maintenance is terminated:
- Hartog v. Hartog, 85 N.Y.2d 36 (1995) (maintenance ends upon death of either spouse);
- Bliss v. Bliss, 66 N.Y.2d 382 (1985) (maintenance ends when payee spouse cohabits with a person of the opposite sex and holds him or herself out as married even if they are not);
- Cohen v. Cronin, 382 N.Y.S.2d 724 (1976) (maintenance ends upon remarriage);
- Burn v. Burn, 101 A.D.3d 488 (1st Dept., 2012); and,
- Sevdinoglou v. Sevdinoglou, 40 A.D.3d 959 (2nd Dept., 2007).