Alimony or spousal support are payments made by one spouse to the other during a divorce case or after the marriage or civil union has ended. One purpose of alimony in New Jersey is to help the spouse with the least amount of resources become self-supporting, by giving him or her the time to obtain the education, training, or experience to re-enter or advance in the job market. Another common purpose of alimony is to provide a dependent spouse with support when they have no ability or opportunity to support themselves either by reason of age or disability.
New Jersey courts consider the following factors when determining if alimony should be paid and if so, how much it should be set at and for how long:
- The need for alimony and the ability of the paying spouse to pay it
- The length of the marriage or civil union
- The age and physical and emotional health of the spouses
- The standard of living that existed in the marriage or civil union and the likelihood of each spouse being able to have a comparable standard of living after the divorce
- The earning ability, education and skills of the spouses
- How long the spouse seeking alimony has been out of the job market
- The division of parental responsibilities
- The length of time and the cost of obtaining education or training for the spouse seeking alimony to become employable and the availability of training and jobs, as well as the spouse’s resources
- The non-financial contributions the spouse seeking alimony made to the marriage or civil union through childcare or homemaking and how this interrupted his or her education or employment
- The property division in the divorce
- The income available to either spouse through investment of his or her assets
- The tax consequences of alimony
- Any other relevant factors
DeTorres & DeGeorge is ready to help you with your alimony case in New Jersey.