Alimony

Alimony is a court ordered or agreed upon payment between ex-spouses once a marriage has ended. It is a common misconception that only wives receive alimony. The Supreme Court has held that pursuant to the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, husbands and wives are both entitled to receive alimony.

Alimony attempts to balance the inequities in the parties' earning capability. Alimony is not a reward and it is not meant as punishment for the payer. Rather, the purpose of alimony is to allow each person to maintain a lifestyle, to the extent possible, similar to that existing during the marriage due to their combined efforts, both inside and outside of the home.

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As part of a divorce, there are several different types of alimony that the family court can award. The different types of alimony include:

• Open duration alimony was created by the Legislature in 2014 to replace the concept of permanent alimony in New Jersey. Open duration alimony is typically awarded in long-term marriages, particularly marriages in excess of twenty or more years in duration.
• Limited duration alimony is alimony that is payable only for a specific term or period. In determining the duration of alimony to be awarded, the court considers the length of time it would reasonably take for the recipient spouse to improve his or her earning capacity to a level where limited duration alimony is no longer appropriate.
• Rehabilitative alimony is a short-term award that allows one party in a divorce to enable the former spouse to obtain education or training necessary for that spouse to obtain employment or more lucrative employment and be economically self-sufficient.
• Reimbursement alimony compensates a spouse for economic sacrifices made during the marriage, where that spouse’s sacrifices helped to enhance the other spouse’s earning capacity.