Chances are, you did not enter into a New Jersey marriage thinking that it would one day come to an end, but regrettably, many American marriages ultimately end in divorce. If you count yourself among those who sacrificed your career or education so that your spouse can pursue his or hers, or if you have become accustomed to a certain lifestyle during your marriage, you may have cause to seek alimony.
So, how can you determine whether you might be able to get alimony in your New Jersey divorce?
Determining the need for alimony
When it comes to child support, New Jersey has a standard formula it typically uses to determine how much support one parent must pay to the other. The same does not apply when it comes to alimony, however. Instead of using a set calculation, courts will typically consider a wide range of factors when making alimony decisions.
Statutory factors
So, what aspects of you and your former partner’s lives might a court review and consider before deciding whether to grant you alimony? The court will typically assess your ex’s earnings and his or her ability to pay alimony, for starters, and you can also expect the court to consider how long your marriage lasted in the first place before issuing alimony decisions.
The court will typically also consider your earning potential in deciding whether to grant you alimony, and you may be more likely to get it if you are older, or if you, as mentioned, set aside your own career or education for that of your then-partner. Your standard of living, your emotional and physical health and those of your ex will also likely factor into whether you are ultimately able to receive alimony in New Jersey.
While these are some of the main areas a court will review when making alimony decisions, please note that this is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all areas the court may consider.