Fairly early on in your divorce process, your attorney will ask you to fill out a financial statement known as a Case Information Statement. This document is very important during the divorce process, as it sets forth your income, monthly expenses, and assets/liabilities of the marriage. This allows the attorneys, divorcing parties and the Court to easily analyze the financial circumstances of the parties. Clearly, if the parties both earn substantially the same income, it is difficult to make a claim that one needs alimony because the other will not have an ability to pay.
In many instances, it will be obvious – based on the difference in parties’ incomes – that the case is “an alimony case,” but it is often much less obvious exactly how much that alimony should be. Once your Case Information Statements have been completed and exchanged, your attorney should be able to give you a better idea of what your alimony might be. It should also be noted that, unlike alimony in New Jersey, child support is determined via a formula, and part of that formula is the amount of alimony that the parties each pay/receive. If you are the party that is paying alimony, your income for child support purposes will be reduced by the amount of alimony you pay, as that money is no longer available to put toward your child support. Likewise, the party who is receiving alimony will have that amount added to his or her income, as they have additional money to support the children.
When you initially file a complaint for divorce or an answer and counterclaim, you should request spousal support if you believe you may have a claim for same. It’s easier to drop the claim at a later time than it is to seek if after the fact if it was not initially requested. Your attorney will be able to guide your decision in that regard.
If you have questions about your potential alimony issues, contact the attorneys of DeTorres & DeGeorge to schedule a consultation in your case.