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Final Copy 289 Ga. 664

S11A0739. DEAN v. DEAN.

NAHMIAS, Justice. More than 30 years ago this Court adopted the straightforward rule that parties to an alimony agreement may obtain modification unless the agreement expressly waives the right of modification by referring specifically to that right; the right to modification will be waived by agreement of the parties only in very clear waiver language which refers to the right of modification. Varn v. Varn, 242 Ga. 309, 311 (248 SE2d 667) (1978). The trial court in this case read a divorce settlement agreement to forbid changes to child support payments below a floor amount, even though the agreement lacks a "clear and express waiver" of the modification right to any degree. Id. We therefore reverse. 1. Alan Patrick Dean (Husband) and Tracy Terwilliger Dean (Wife)

were divorced on May 14, 2008. Their settlement agreement, incorporated into the divorce decree, provided that Husband would pay Wife monthly child support of $2,290, a figure "calculated based upon [Husband's] annual salary of

$185,000." The agreement further stated that Husband's child support payment would be recalculated soon after the start of each year, with the new amount being retroactive to January 1 and based again solely on his salary income. Finally, the agreement provided that "[i]n no event shall the annual recalculation of Husband's child support result in him paying less than the above-stated amount of [$2,290] per month to Wife for the support of two minor children." The annual recalculations did not increase Husband's child support obligation for 2009 or 2010. On June 28, 2010, however, Husband filed a petition for downward modification pursuant to OCGA

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