Alimony, Support, and Maintenance are terms that describe payments made by either a husband or a wife to their former spouse after a divorce. The divorcing husband and wife can agree on amount and duration of these payments. If the husband and wife cannot agree, the court will decide.

Types of Alimony

New Jersey courts use the term Alimony. There are several different types of alimony that the court can award. They are:

• Permanent Alimony – paid until either the husband or wife dies or the spouse receiving the alimony remarries.
  
• Limited Duration Alimony – paid out for a specific period of time and then ends. This can include:
  
  • Rehabilitative Alimony – paid for a specific period of time to allow the husband or wife to take the necessary steps to obtain a job, education, training, or recover from a physical or mental illness.
    
  • Reimbursement Alimony – paid to a husband or wife when one spouse supported the other spouse through advanced education, with the expectation of benefiting from the increased earning capacity so generated. For example, a husband that works to support his wife through medical school may be entitled to reimbursement alimony, if the parties divorce shortly thereafter.

Factors

The factors considered in awarding alimony are:

• The need of either the husband or wife to receive alimony;
  
• The ability of either the husband or wife to pay alimony;
  
• The length of the marriage;
  
• The age, physical and emotional health of the husband and wife;
  
• The way the parties lived during the marriage and how reasonable it is that each can continue to live similarly after the divorce;
  
• The earning capacities, education, job skills, and job potential of the spouses;
  
• When the husband or wife seeking support last worked;
  
• The husband and wife’s responsibilities to care for minor children;
  
• The time and cost necessary to educate or train the husband or wife looking for alimony so that person can find a job and become more self-supporting;
  
• The financial or non-financial contributions to the marriage by both the husband and the wife, including care and education of the children, and the husband or wife’s break from work or school to care for the other spouse or the children;
  
• The income available to both the husband and wife through investments of any assets owned by either of them;
  
• The way the alimony award is treated for tax purposes to both the husband and the wife;
  
• The way the property from the marriage is divided between the husband and wife;
  
• Any other factors which the court may decide;

Amount and Type of Payment

New Jersey sets no limits on payment amount. Payment may be made in one lump sum or in periodic payments.

Ending Payments

Permanent and Limited Duration Alimony end when:

• The husband or wife receiving the alimony marries again.
  

• All types of alimony end when either the husband or the wife die, regardless of which is paying alimony and which is receiving alimony.
  

Length of Award

The law does not set a specific time limit on how long a husband or wife has to pay alimony. The time depends on the situation of the parties and the factors set out above.

Method of Payment

A husband or wife can pay alimony directly to the other or to the Probation Department in the county where he or she lives. If paid in this manner, either by choice or by court order, the Probation Department acts as a middleman, making sure that the payments are made.

Modification

Alimony payments can always be reduced or increased if either the husband or wife asks the court to do so and has a good reason.