In previous blogs I have written on the actions taken by the New Jersey Legislature to move forward with alimony reform. In February, the Assembly Judiciary Committee approved a measure calling for an eleven person panel to study the need for and make suggestions with regard to such alimony reform. …
Articles Posted in alimony
New Jersey’s Continued Attempt at Alimony Reform
In July I wrote a blog explaining Assembly Bill A3909. This Bill, loosely based on a Statute enacted in Massachusetts, affected a broad range alimony reform. In a nut shell, the Bill eliminated permanent alimony and created formulas that Courts were instructed to utilize in computing the amount and duration…
How Marital Fault May Affect the Marital Calculus
According to the New Jersey alimony statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 (b), a New Jersey family court in fixing alimony has to consider thirteen enumerated factors. Conspicuously missing from those factors is marital fault. Litigants may be surprised that a spouse’s “fault” in the classic divorce sense is generally ignored by family court judges…
Considerations for a Divorce for Persons Over the Age of 50
According to a March, 2013 publication from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, authors Susan L. Brown and I-Fen Lin discussed the divorce rate for adults over the age of 50 in their article entitled “The Gray Divorce Revolution: Rising Divorce among Middle-aged and Older…
The Last Stand for Permanent Alimony in Mid-length Marriages?
As recently discussed in an earlier blog post, the New Jersey Legislature is considering legislation that would abolish permanent alimony and regulate the term and amount of all alimony awards. Without that legislation, the right to and the responsibility to pay permanent alimony will continue to be controlled by trial judge’s discretion.…
Cohabitation and Alimony in New Jersey
It is not uncommon for someone who is paying alimony to a former spouse to be concerned about or to find him or herself faced the scenario of paying alimony to a former spouse who becomes involved in a committed, romantic relationship with a paramour but is not remarried. The person…
New Jersey Legislature Proposes Dramatic Overhaul of Alimony Laws
Currently pending in the New Jersey State Senate and the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee are identical bills, which by their terms, would amend New Jersey’s alimony statute, N.J.S. 2A:34-23. Since the Divorce Reform Act of 1971, N.J.S. 2A:34-23 has been amended on seven occasions. Each time the design of the amendment was to bring…