Riffenburg v. Riffenburg

OPINION

MURRAY, Justice.

This case is before us on the plaintiff’s petition for common-law certiorari. 1 Two main issues are presented. First, does the Family Court have authority to modify alimony obligations as set out in a separation agreement, where the agreement has been incorporated by reference but not merged into a final divorce judgment? For the reasoning that follows, we rule that the Family Court lacks such authority. Second, when alimony is provided both in a nonmerged separation agreement and in a divorce judgment, is alimony under the judgment modifiable despite the fact that the…