Alimony

Subscribe to Alimony

New Jersey’s recently enacted alimony statute deals with modification of alimony in the event the payor loses his/her job through no fault of their own.

Even though this law allows a payor to seek modification once the payor has been without employment for 90 days, there is not an automatic termination or reduction. The Court must consider many factors which are set forth in the statute, which include but are not limited to:

  1. The reasons for the loss of income;
  2. The payor’s efforts to replace his or her employment or find alternative employment;
  3. The payor’s health and how it affects his or her ability to obtain employment; and,
  4. Any severance award received from the previous employer.

…
Continue Reading Loss of Employment and Alimony

Both during and after a divorce, one spouse may require financial support from the other; this financial support is known as alimony. Alimony allows the dependent spouse to maintain a lifestyle as close as possible to what the couple enjoyed during the marriage, at least until the dependent spouse is able to start supporting themselves.

In New Jersey, there are five types of alimony:…

Continue Reading Divorce and Alimony in South Jersey

At the conclusion of many divorce proceedings, alimony is calculated by the court to be paid from the supporting spouse to the dependent spouse. The amount of alimony to be paid is calculated based on a variety of factors, including, among others, the length of the marriage and the martial lifestyle of the couples while married. Once calculated, alimony can typically only be modified by showing a “change in circumstances” that would warrant either the increase or decrease in alimony payments to be made. An occurrence that can be considered a “change in circumstance” is when the alimony recipient then cohabitates with another following the divorce while still receiving alimony payments.

Cohabitation situations can be frustrating to the alimony obligor (the spouse making the payments) because the alimony recipient cohabitating with another can mean two things: (1) the recipient may be using the payments to support their new partner, or (2) the recipient may be receiving financial support from their new partner in addition to the alimony received from their former spouse, essentially receiving monies from two different sources and concealing changes in their finances.

How does the law define cohabitation?…

Continue Reading How Cohabitation Affects Alimony Payments

During the course of divorce proceedings, alimony from the supporting spouse to the dependent spouse is typically calculated based on a variety of factors. The income of the two spouses is a critical factor in determining the amount of alimony to be paid. However, some incomes are not guaranteed and can change over time. One of the most common scenarios in which the income of a spouse can change is due to retirement. Following one’s retirement, a spouse can petition the court to modify the alimony payments they either receive or pay. However, there are an additional set of factors the court must consider in permitting alimony payments to be modified if the parties were divorced prior to September of 2014.

The leading case in New Jersey addressing the modification of alimony is Lepis v. Lepis (1980), which states that “the party seeking modification [of alimony] must demonstrate that changed circumstances have substantially impaired the ability to support himself or herself.” Furthermore, the court will look at the party’s circumstances at the time of the divorce (when the alimony was determined) and at the time of application for the modification of alimony to see any differences in the circumstances between these two dates.

Because retirement is one of the leading causes for a petition for the modification of alimony to be filed, there are cases in New Jersey that have laid out a series of factors to determine whether or not the retirement of one of the spouses warrants alimony to be modified.…

Continue Reading Modification of Alimony Due to Retirement

One of the more vexing issues in a divorce case involves determining an appropriate level of alimony or child support. If the parties’ incomes are not disputed, the task is easier, but if one or both parties are unemployed or “underemployed,” the issue of determining a fair and reasonable level of potential income arises. To…

The new alimony law that was recently passed on September 10, 2014, changed one of the types of alimony from “permanent” to “open durational.” It was really just a change in semantics. Permanent alimony was never meant to be “lifetime” alimony as many clients called it. Under our previous law, permanent alimony could have been…

In a long-awaited decision in the case of Maeker v. Ross the New Jersey Supreme Court has unanimously decided that oral “palimony” agreements entered into before revisionary legislation in 2010 will remain legally enforceable. The Court’s September 25 decision reversed the appellate court which had ruled that Ms. Maeker could not pursue her palimony claim…

In the past, if a person was terminated from his or her job and wanted to modify alimony due to a change in circumstances, our courts would many times not even consider such an application until six months to a year had passed. During that time, the unemployed person would have to continue paying alimony at the ordered rate or arrears would start to accrue at an alarming rate. Also during that time, the unemployed person would have to document his or her efforts to obtain new employment and provide proof of such efforts to the court when the court felt enough time had passed to file a modification application. This amount of time was very subjective and different judges would have different thresholds, since there was no statute detailing what was an appropriate length of time before someone could file such an application.
Continue Reading How the New Alimony Law Deals with Unemployment

As John S. Eory, Esquire previously blogged, Governor Chris Christie signed into law changes to our alimony statute on September 10, 2014.

Prior to the new alimony statute, the law of the State of New Jersey surrounding the issue of an alimony recipient’s cohabitation was defined by our Courts.  Under the previous case law, if a recipient of alimony was cohabitating with a paramour, the payor of alimony could file an application with the Court to modify or terminate their alimony obligation.  Modification or termination of alimony depended on a two prong burden-shifting test, the first of which required a finding of “cohabitation” of the dependent spouse by the Court.  Such a finding gave rise to the rebuttable presumption that the financial needs of the dependent spouse have been reduced.  The burden of proof shifted to the dependent spouse to show that his or her economic circumstances were not improved as a result of the cohabitation.  This second prong consisted of a fact-specific evaluation of the reduced financial need of the dependent spouse based upon the economic effect of his or her cohabitation.
Continue Reading Recent Changes to the Alimony Statute and Cohabitation