Question: If I pay alimony past the termination date am I obligated to continue paying?
Answer:
If your court order has an end date, then you do not have any legal obligation to them to continue alimony payments. Anything you continue paying them will be a voluntary gift, and not likely recoverable. It is kind of you to want to continue making these payments. I would recommend making them in a different amount, and having in the memo line something that identifies it as a gift “recovery gift” “For medical expenses” or something that shows it is clearly no longer alimony. Making additional payments usually risks that you could not get that money back, if for example, you accidentally made more payments; the Court may not order the recipient to pay them back. But, as you are giving a gift for medical recovery, this is unlikely to turn into an obligation especially where the alimony was non-modifiable, it does mean it cannot be changed even if the request was to change it to continue.
Attorney Erin E. Morse