When factors are considered and decisions are made for marital issues, only the current circumstances can be taken into consideration. Due to this, there can be room for change in the future. For alimony, it can be modified based on certain situations that can change. If the independent spouse faces retirement or dies, the payments may be modified or stop altogether. Cohabitation or remarriage can affect alimony payments as well. Changing circumstances should be considered and decisions can be made in court to see if a modification is needed.
How is alimony arranged?
Alimony is determined based on a certain structure that is in place in New Jersey. The courts follow this system to make uniform decisions across all marriage and divorce cases involving alimony payments. Some of the structures can include open durational alimony, rehabilitative alimony, reimbursement alimony and limited duration alimony. Each of these structures can be based on the jobs of the spouses in marriage and the length of the marriage that is being decided upon.
Open durational alimony was previously named as permanent alimony arrangement, but it is no longer called that since it may not be a permanent solution. There is no specific time frame for when these payments should stop being made. This form of payment is for married couples who have been together for longer periods of time. They should have had a marriage that lasted over 20 years to qualify for this type of alimony. For this category, modifications can be made during the open durational alimony to adjust the payment amounts or when they are due. Limited duration alimony is for married couples who were together for less than 20 years. Under New Jersey law, payments are not allowed to be made longer than the duration of the marriage. The length of the marriage can greatly affect the amount and the frequency of alimony payments after a divorce.
Rehabilitative alimony is designed to support dependent parties who have delayed their career goals due to a decision made in marriage with their spouse. The may have decided to do this because it was to support their spouse’s success during the marriage and for the benefit of the family. This form of payment requires funds to pay for schooling or vocational training so that the dependent party has the opportunity to increase their earning capacity. Reimbursement alimony is a structure of support that includes payments to reimburse a spouse for financially supporting the family during the marriage. This could have been due to their spouse’s pursuit of an education or some kind of vocational training.
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