This week, Governor Chris Christie’s office announced an update to the long-standing NJ Alimony Laws, which will pertain mainly to future divorces and changes the length of time ex-spouses can receive Alimony payments in New Jersey.  It is important to note that the term “Permanent Alimony” is no longer applicable under this new update, and will be replaced with the term “Open durational alimony”, based on the new updated laws.

How will this affect your future alimony payments going forward? The major changes of the updated NJ Alimony Law are as follows:

–          If your marriage lasted 20 years or more, the alimony payments will end once the ex-spouse paying them reaches the full retirement age of 67.

–          If your marriage lasted less than 20 years, the length of the alimony payments cannot exceed the length of the marriage.  For example, if your marriage lasted 10 years, the alimony payments cannot exceed a time period greater than 10 years, except where there are exceptional circumstances.

–           Judges are now able to end payments in the event the recipient lives with a new partner, even if there is no marriage involved.

–          A Judge would also be able to lower payments if the payer has been out of work for a period of 90 days or longer.

If you have any questions regarding the NJ Alimony Laws and how it pertains to your individual case, please feel free to give us a call us at 856-302-3989 to discuss, check out our website at www.reinherzlaw.com, or email to reinherzlaw@gmail.com.  Navigating NJ Divorce and Alimony laws can be a tricky undertaking if you are not up to date on all the current laws and regulations, and having a hardworking NJ Divorce attorney can help ensure you are properly cared for in the future.