Also known as: changed circumstances · change in circumstances · changes of circumstances · material change in circumstances
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A material alteration in the facts or conditions existing when an agreement, decree, or instrument was made that may justify modification of obligations, refusal to enforce a term, or other legal consequences.
Christine Castro and Craig Caldwell signed a premarital agreement waiving spousal support. Five years after marriage Craig lost his job and developed a chronic illness that prevented him from working. Christine now seeks to enforce the waiver. The court refuses enforcement because the enforcement would cause Craig substantial hardship due to the material change in circumstances after signing.
Cynthia Cortez obtained a divorce decree requiring her former spouse to pay monthly maintenance. Two years later the former spouse's income doubled while Cynthia's health declined and she could no longer work. Cynthia moves to increase the award. The court grants modification because the change in circumstances is substantial and continuing and renders the original terms unconscionable.
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Camila Cervantes executed a will leaving her estate to her brother. After execution her brother died and Camila's financial situation improved dramatically. Upon Camila's death the executor argues the will is revoked by the change of circumstances. The court upholds the will because a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or any part of it.
Cade Carpenter created a trust naming Coastal Shipping as trustee. Market conditions shifted dramatically and the trustee's investment strategy no longer served the beneficiaries' interests. The qualified beneficiaries petition for removal. The court removes the trustee because there has been a substantial change of circumstances and removal best serves the beneficiaries without violating a material purpose of the trust.
A state enacts a statute restricting certain medical procedures. Plaintiffs challenge the statute under an earlier Supreme Court decision. The Court notes intervening factual developments in medical technology and practice. The Court reexamines the earlier decision because the change of circumstances has altered the factual predicate on which the prior ruling rested.
A city condemns waterfront property for a private development project under an economic revitalization plan. Property owners argue the plan no longer serves a public purpose because economic conditions have shifted since the plan was adopted. The Court upholds the taking because the change of circumstances does not alter the established legal standard for public use.
The party must demonstrate changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make the original terms unconscionable. Courts modify only future installments and require proof that enforcement would now be fundamentally unfair.
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No. Under the Uniform Probate Code a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or any part of it except in the narrow situations addressed by the slayer and divorce revocation statutes.
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A court may refuse enforcement if the term would cause substantial hardship to a party because of a material change in circumstances arising after the agreement was signed, judged in the context of the agreement as a whole.
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It supplies one ground for removal when the court also finds that removal best serves the beneficiaries' interests, is not inconsistent with a material purpose of the trust, and a suitable successor is available.
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…use has long been engaged in by similarly situated owners ordinarily imports a lack of any common-law prohibition (though changed circumstances or new knowledge may make what was previously permissible no longer so, see id. , § 827, Comment g. So also does the fact that other landowners, similarly situated, are permitted to…