In my practice, I see countless situations where people act without the advice of an attorney and change the arrangements which have been set forth in a court order. Sometimes the changes are without agreement and sometimes they are by agreement. Sometimes the agreement might be documented in a letter or other writing. However, changes to an Order without a court order are a very slippery slope.
In one recent case, both parties thought that an order was modified by a court order but it turned out the order was never entered. Even in that situation, the change in the order was not permissible and the payee of alimony got slapped with a nearly $60,000 bill. Shumake v. Shumake, NO. 2012-CT–00718–SCT (Decided 09/18/14)