Major changes are here for those currently going through a divorce. On September 10, 2014 Governor Christie signed the NJ Alimony Reform Bill, bill A845, into law.
What does the new law accomplish?
• For marriages less than 20 years, the length of alimony payments cannot exceed the length of the marriage unless a judge determines that there are “exceptional circumstances”.
• Judges would be able to end alimony payments if the recipient cohabits with a partner, even if they don’t get married.
• Judges would have the authority to modify alimony payments if the payer has been unemployed for more than 90 days.
• The term “permanent alimony” would be replaced with the language “open duration alimony”.
While the new law applies primarily to future divorces, it does allow for a “rebuttable presumption” that alimony payments will end once the ex-spouse making the payments reaches the full retirement age for Social Security.
Jeff Urbach, Partner at Urbach and Avraham, CPAs spearheads our litigation support department which specializes in matrimonial accounting. Jeff and his team of valuation analysts and fraud examiners guide couples and their attorneys through the myriad of financial and tax issues of divorce. Please call our office if you or someone you know is going through a divorce to see how we can assist and what effect the new law could have on your situation.