In re Schaulin-Viviers

The respondent, Norris Viviers, appeals an order recommended by a Marital Master (Geiger, M.) and approved by the Manchester Family Division (Emery, J.), ruling that his obligation to pay alimony to the petitioner, Karen Schaulin-Viviers, could not be modified because the parties agreed to a lump-sum payment of alimony. We vacate and remand.

The following facts are drawn from the record. The parties married in April 2003 and divorced in October 2007. The divorce decree, based on the parties’ permanent stipulation, required the respondent to pay alimony to the petitioner “in an amount equal to…