A Foundation Of Financial Fairness
Establishing spousal support (also known as alimony) is an extremely important part of the divorce process, and the law attempts to achieve a fair result for everyone involved.
At the Robin Jill Schneider law firm, I take the time to make sure that you understand the likely outcomes of your case from the very beginning so there are no surprises along the way. I am New Jersey Supreme Court-certified matrimonial law attorney Robin Jill Schneider, and I have more than 40 years of experience helping people in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties in New Jersey work through complex support issues.
Determining Spousal Support
Although New Jersey does not use a specific formula for determining alimony, judges consider several statutory factors, including the following:
- Length of the marriage
- Income, earning capacity and employability of each spouse
- Financial and non-financial contributions of each spouse to the marriage, including child-rearing responsibilities
- The health of the parties
- Time and expense required for the receiving spouse to become financially independent
- Age of each spouse
These factors also play a role in which of the five types of alimony you may be awarded or ordered to pay. The five types are:
- Temporary alimony, which is payable during the divorce process
- Limited-duration alimony, which is paid for a specific time period
- Rehabilitative alimony, which provides compensation for education, training and other expenses to help the dependent spouse become self-supporting
- Reimbursement alimony, which reimburses one spouse who supported the other through school but did not benefit from the education because of the divorce
- Open-duration alimony, which is for dependent spouses who may never become self-supporting
Relevant factors can change over time. If that happens, a judge may be willing to modify alimony.
Call For A Free Consultation Now
It is essential to work with an attorney who understands current laws and how they may change in the future. I am that attorney. Call 732-812-4944 or contact my firm online.
