Description
Determining alimony is an incredibly complex process. The state of New Jersey has 14 factors that are considered for an alimony decision and there are four different types of alimony that may apply to a client's particular case. Hiring a family law firm can help clients continue to live the lifestyle they have become accustomed to following a divorce.
View transcript
The question of whether or not alimony is an issue in a case is a significant one and impacts your financial future. The question as to whether or not alimony should be paid and if so, for how long is complex. There's a statute in New Jersey and it has 14 different factors that a court must consider when making an alimony recommendation or an alimony decision. Some of those factors are the ages of the parties, the parties' abilities to earn and their abilities to provide for themselves, the equitable distribution, and the lifestyle that's achieved during the marriage in the reasonable likelihood that that lifestyle can be maintained.
Pendente lite support is temporary alimony. And it sometimes is awarded during the pendency of divorce case, and it's temporary so it expires when the divorce happens.
The four different types of alimony that a judge can award at the conclusion of a trial are rehabilitative alimony, reimbursement alimony, limited duration alimony, and open duration alimony.
Open duration alimony is reserved for cases with exceptional circumstances or that for marriages that have over 20 years. For marriages of under 20 years, you're really looking at limited duration alimony. It's important also to note that the duration of the alimony cannot exceed the term of the marriage. So if you're married for five years, you can't get alimony for six years unless there's exceptional circumstances. Alimony and child support are two different types of support. Alimony is spousal support, and child support is for the child.
Alimony doesn't have any type of calculations or guidelines in terms of software that you plug in numbers and it spits it. There's no equation. What determines how much you would get in alimony is your specific facts and circumstances. This is where having a skilled and seasoned attorney becomes very, very important.
In the event that you have an alimony award or a child support award and you're not receiving those benefits. In other words, there's a violation, somebody's not paying what they're supposed to pay, then it's incumbent upon you to file an application with the court to enforce litigants' rights. Any issue in a divorce case, whether it's alimony or anything else, it's significantly affecting your future. I invite you to call us for a consultation, where we can go over what your options are and we can explain the strategies that are particular to your circumstances to achieve your goals.
