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Alimony, or spousal support, is applicable in some, but not all, divorce cases. The purpose of alimony is to provide both spouses with a standard of living similar to that which they enjoyed together during the marriage. The applicability and amount of alimony in a given case is contingent upon a wide variety of factors, including the length of the marriage, each spouse’s responsibilities with regard to child-rearing, contributions that one spouse may have made to the other’s career or educational advancement, and the earning potential of each spouse. In New Jersey, there is no concrete formula for determining alimony, which means that these outcomes are subject to the discretion of the court unless the parties can reach an agreement through negotiation. Whether you are the spouse seeking alimony or the spouse who may be required to make these payments, alimony determinations have long-term financial implications, underscoring the need for a knowledgeable divorce attorney who can help you secure a positive result.
At The Montanari Law Group, our Passaic county divorce attorneys are thoroughly prepared to advocate for your interests through alimony negotiations and trial proceedings in New Jersey Family Court. Over the last decade, we have helped countless clients in Woodland Park, Wayne, Clifton, and throughout Passaic and Essex counties to navigate through the complex process of divorce and achieve their desired outcome. When you come to us with your case, we listen to develop a comprehensive understanding of your situation, answer your questions, address your concerns, and construct a compelling case that supports your position. For a cost-free consultation with one of our highly knowledgeable divorce attorneys, contact our Passaic County offices today at 973-233-4396 or toll-free at 888-877-7985.
Alimony is a part of most divorce settlements in New Jersey. Still, unlike some states, it is not determined based on a formula or percentage of the income of the separating parties. To make alimony more equitable, New Jersey’s alimony statute (N.J.S.2A:34-23) provides a list of factors used by the court to justify the amount of alimony to be paid. Both parties submit a detailed financial statement to establish their standard of living, income, and expenses. The length of the marriage is also taken into account. The spouses’ ages and physical and emotional health are evaluated. The court will review each person’s level of education, vocational skills, work experience, potential earnings, and employability. The financial contributions made by each party to maintain the household and the non-monetary offerings, such as putting off promotions or further education to take care of the children or household, are considered. Available additional training or education to re-enter the job market and adequate time to find employment according to the market characteristics can determine alimony. Additionally, income through the equitable distribution of the assets and funds available through individual assets outside of the marriage are scrutinized.
New Jersey delineates among several different types of alimony, each of which may provide the best alternative depending on the situation. In certain cases, more than one type of alimony may be necessary, with one beginning as the other is terminated, or two combined for a specific period of time. The following is an outline of the various types of alimony that may be considered during your New Jersey divorce:
Each spouse is required to complete a CIS (Case Information Statement), a detailed form containing all of the household’s financial information. This includes salaries, marital assets, all household expenditures, and financial liabilities such as car loans or a mortgage. The CIS is a complex form and should be filled out with the assistance of your divorce attorney to ensure its accuracy.
In a divorce settlement, the judge considers the standard of living before the separation. Alimony aims to maintain that standard for both parties as closely as possible. Equitable distribution and alimony create a financial balance, and having a higher salary is only one aspect of that decision. The court must determine not only each spouse’s income but also their capacity to earn enough to maintain their standard of living. Housing costs, transportation, medical insurance, utilities, groceries, and other daily expenses increase when there are two households to support. It would be unfair for one spouse to live high on the hog while their former partner can barely keep the lights on. Alimony can provide a financial buffer during the transition to economic independence.
For example, Kelcy and Kerrie were married for 8 years. While Kelcy studied fashion design and opened a shop, Kerrie quit pursuing an engineering degree and worked 3 jobs to support them and the new business. After their 6th anniversary, Kelcy received several opportunities for fashion shows around the globe and began making money hand over fist. When they split 2 years later, the court based its decision for alimony on Kelcy’s income, the lifestyle they had together, the opportunities Kerrie had sacrificed, and the difficulty of returning to school or receiving training to get a job.
As time passes, jobs, health, and financial circumstances can change. If the supporting spouse needs to reduce payments or the recipient wants their payments increased, a motion for a change in support must be filed. If both parties agree to the change, it can be drawn up, signed, and submitted to the court. If the exes disagree, the party who wants the change in alimony must file a motion with the court. The motion should list how circumstances have changed and that the change is permanent, substantial, and unforeseen.
Some justifications for reducing alimony include diminished income, a bankrupt business or employer, an augmented cost of living, a job loss, health complications that affect earning capacity, retirement, and the alimony recipient’s remarriage. Alimony may also be modified in favor of the recipient if the payor’s income has significantly increased and the recipient can justify a more significant payment.
When the alimony recipient remarries or cohabitates with a partner, they are no longer eligible to receive alimony. Alimony payments cannot be reinstated once they have been stopped. This does not, however, include alimony that is in arrears. Those payments must be made regardless of the circumstances. If the payer remarries, their alimony obligation remains. Suppose their financial obligations under the new household make it impossible to pay the existing amount. In that case, a motion for modification can be submitted, and true economic hardship must be proven to obtain financial relief.
New Jersey’s alimony tax law considers alimony payments tax-deductible, and the funds received through alimony are taxable income.
The divorce process contains many steps, some of which are rather cumbersome and complicated, like determining alimony. To make an accurate determination, courts need to ascertain the marital lifestyle, otherwise known as the marital standard of living. When getting a divorce, you will need a variety of important documents.
One of these is the Case Information Statement (CIS), a document which details all of the financial aspects of the marital household, which is analyzed by the courts when deciding on a fair sum for alimony payments. Since NJ is an equitable distribution state, a CIS is necessary to calculate a proportionate figure rather than have a 50/50 split, as is the case in many other states.
The CIS includes all of the financial information of the marital home, including employment and its associated income (which includes bonuses, commissions, overtime, and stock options), assets (vehicles, boats, dwellings, businesses), and expenditures broken down into several categories such as shelter (all expenses related to the home including renovations, electric bills, and pool maintenance), transportation (car payments, private drivers, taxis, vehicles, and their maintenance), and the largest category, personal expenses (clothing, food, health care, child care, and a plethora of other related items).
This document is an incredibly detailed reflection of the funds coming in and going out from the household, from whom they are derived, and who takes care of covering the expenses. The court will require tax forms from the last two years, recent pay stubs, investment statements, credit card statements, loan balances, mortgages, long-term debts, medical bills, and student loans as well. Your attorney can provide you with a checklist to help you get organized.
Our highly knowledgeable divorce attorneys at The Montanari Law Group, LLC have proven experience in handling challenging family law issues in Wayne, Clifton, Woodland Park, and the greater Passaic County area. For a free confidential initial consultation with one of our New Jersey family law attorneys today, contact us online or call our offices in Little Falls, New Jersey at 973-233-4396.
It is customary that one spouse is required to subsidize the lifestyle of the other to which they are accustomed if it does not induce economic hardship on the part of the supporting spouse. The presiding family court judge is not aware of any of the circumstances until they are presented using the CIS. In order for a fair and equitable decision to be reached, the information therein needs to be as on-point and detailed as possible. No one has ever been in trouble for providing too much financial information to the court in a divorce trial. Just because you earn more than your spouse, it does not mean that you will be required to pay a large sum in alimony. The CIS was instituted to prevent cases such as those from occurring. The goal is to distribute the income and the expenses in a way that neither party feels taken advantage of, but that cannot occur unless all of the financial information from both parties is fully disclosed.
Although this is only one part of a much bigger panorama the judge must view, as a reflection of the lifestyle of persons in the household, it is an indispensable tool in providing a balanced decision as to the quantity of support that will be paid. Its accuracy is of utmost urgency. Any intentional fraud or misleading information could leave an individual facing criminal or civil charges and penalties. Hiding assets or inflating expenses may not seem like a big deal, but it is, in effect, a crime. What is worse, it could incite a judge to doubt the credibility of the offender in future proceedings, including child custody and/or support.
A divorce ends in two people who once shared a household and made it thrive as a unit breaking into two separate households. Whether one spouse or both worked, the division of one household into two most often results in both households having less. In some cases, only one spouse earned income or earned most of the household income. When spouses divorce, that disparity of income or income potential may cause a judge to order temporary or extended durational alimony to the spouse in need of it. A family law judge may order one spouse to pay alimony to the other, or the parties may agree on alimony payments, which becomes part of the divorce decree. That means it is the law. An alimony order, however, does not guarantee the ordered party will pay. When the obligated party fails to pay alimony, the supported spouse may be unable to pay their bills or rent and suffer anxiety about their survival. If your ex-spouse is not paying alimony, you do have recourse.
Since your remedy for non-payment of support is handled in the family law courts, you are well-advised to find an experienced family law attorney to help you get your alimony order enforced. The highly skilled Divorce Attorneys at The Montanari Law Group provide counsel to clients in need of help with alimony enforcement across New Jersey, including Passaic County, Essex County, and Bergen County towns like Wayne, Clifton, Little Falls, Hackensack, Montclair, South Orange, West Orange, and Ridgewood.
An attorney can file a motion in the family court asking the court to order your ex to pay back support, to become current on alimony payments, and to pay all future alimony payments as ordered. Your attorney can also request that the court order your ex to pay your attorney fees or to issue a bench warrant for their arrest for violating a court order. Filing a notice of motion to enforce an alimony order or agreement allows you to obtain court assistance in the enforcement process. There are multiple ways to secure the alimony you are entitled to.
For example, the court can issue a wage execution or garnishment, which requires the alimony payor’s employer to take a percentage out of their weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly wages for your alimony payment. Your attorney will first notify your ex-spouse that you plan to attach their wages by sending the application for the wage execution to be filed with the court. In that way, your ex has time to object to the wage garnishment and have a hearing on the objection. If no objection is filed, your attorney will file another document: a writ of execution to get the wage garnishment. The amount may not be the full payment, however, since only a certain percentage of an employee’s wages may be taken at a time.
You might also execute and sell property belonging to your ex to get your back alimony. Once the court determines the outstanding balance of unpaid alimony at the motion to execute the alimony order hearing, you can seize property up to that amount. Your attorney can file the appropriate papers to get an execution and sale order so that you can attach bank accounts with a bank levy. First, a court must sign a writ of execution, which is then sent to the sheriff’s office for delivery to the obligated party’s bank. The bank then takes the money out of the account and transfers it to you after you file a motion to turn over the funds. You can also have other assets turned over to you, like cars, boats, business equipment, or real property, so long as you can prove the seized property belongs to the party who owes the alimony. And even if your ex moves out of state, you can get your judgment recognized in another state and execute your judgment there.
Though these remedies are available, you may have to wait to get your full alimony back pay and current pay.
Those who agreed or were ordered to pay alimony may have many reasons for not paying. Divorced parties may not communicate well, so you may not know what is going on with your ex. They could have fallen ill, gotten into an accident, lost their job, experienced a devastating loss, or some other sympathetic reason for failing to pay alimony. And if your ex appears at your motion to execute on the alimony order or agreement, they may explain to the judge why they have not paid. The court has several options in response, including modifying alimony payments, delaying or reducing it temporarily or permanently. While a judge may not excuse unpaid alimony, they may modify an order going forward.
However, a refusal to pay without a viable excuse may land a non-paying party in jail. Willfully disobeying a court order is contempt of court. Thus, you must file a motion with the court to find your ex in contempt of court for disobeying an alimony court order. In response, the court may order your ex to pay the outstanding unpaid alimony, your attorney’s fees, fines, and other costs incurred for having to bring the motion. The court can emphasize to your ex that they face the possible loss of their driver’s license and jail time for not obeying the order. Though courts would rather your ex pay and stay out of jail, continued refusal to obey a court order will eventually be punished to the extent the non-paying party continues to flout the judge’s order.
Since filing the correct documents and appearing in court to argue your case before a judge requires legal expertise, you do not want to chance further delaying your alimony payments by making mistakes. Hire a family law attorney who regularly files and argues motions to enforce and execute on alimony and contempt orders. And if your ex hires an attorney to defend against motions you file, you want an advocate to ensure you get the support you need to live. Also, since you can ask for your attorney’s fees to be paid, you have a good chance of getting your alimony and attorney’s fees paid to enforce your alimony order.
New Jersey alimony laws are complex and require careful strategizing and attention to detail for a beneficial outcome. No one should be forced to live in squalor because their payments are too high or what they are receiving is insufficient. You deserve to live to the standard to which you are accustomed. Our seasoned attorneys at The Montanari Law Group have years of experience in divorce law. We can guide you through the process one step at a time. Divorce is hard, and you shouldn’t have to make decisions on your own. Let us work for you and protect your rights as you embark on this next step.
We successfully represent clients in Pompton Lakes, Nutley, Haledon, West Milford, Passaic County, and towns across Northern New Jersey. To discuss your case with one of our knowledgeable Passaic County divorce attorneys, contact us at (973)-233-4396 or toll-free at 888-877-7985 for a free initial consultation. We offer flexible appointment options and in-person appointments at ur centrally-located office in Little Falls, New Jersey. Our family law firm can answer your alimony and divorce questions today.