NJSA 2A:34-23: New Jersey Alimony Types, Factors, and Changes

NJSA 2A:34-23 is New Jersey’s alimony statute. It gives courts the authority to order spousal support during or after a divorce or civil union dissolution, defines four types of alimony a judge can award, lists fourteen factors the court must weigh in setting an amount, and sets specific rules for when support can be modified, when it ends at retirement, and when a new relationship can cut it off.¹

The Four Types of Alimony

A court can award one of these, or combine them, depending on the length of the marriage and what the receiving spouse needs.

Open Durational Alimony

Open durational alimony replaced the old “permanent alimony” when the statute was amended in 2014.² It has no fixed end date, but it does not necessarily last forever either. The statute creates a rebuttable presumption that it ends when the paying spouse reaches full Social Security retirement age, and it can be modified or terminated earlier for cohabitation or a real change in financial circumstances.¹ Open durational alimony is the only option when the marriage or civil union lasted 20 years or more and ongoing support is needed. For shorter marriages, the court generally cannot award it.

Limited Duration Alimony

For any marriage or civil union lasting less than 20 years, the total length of alimony cannot exceed the length of the marriage unless the court finds exceptional circumstances. A 12-year marriage can produce at most 12 years of alimony under normal conditions. The statute lists eight circumstances that qualify as exceptional, including chronic illness, a significant age gap at the time of marriage, a disproportionate property distribution, or one spouse having given up career opportunities to support the other’s career.¹

Rehabilitative Alimony

Rehabilitative alimony funds a specific plan for the receiving spouse to become self-supporting through education, training, or work experience. The statute requires a concrete plan laying out the scope of rehabilitation, the steps involved, and a timeframe that includes a period of employment.¹ Vague intentions do not qualify. The court expects specifics: what degree or certification, which program, how long it takes, and how it leads to a job. Rehabilitative alimony can be revised if circumstances change or if the milestones the court expected do not happen.

Reimbursement Alimony

Reimbursement alimony compensates a spouse who financially supported the other through advanced education or professional training, expecting to share in the resulting earning power. The classic scenario is one spouse working to put the other through medical or law school, with the marriage ending shortly after graduation. Unlike every other type of alimony in New Jersey, reimbursement alimony cannot be modified for any reason.³ Once awarded, the amount and terms are locked in.

The Fourteen Factors a Judge Must Weigh

Judges do not set alimony on gut feeling. The statute lists fourteen factors the court must evaluate and make written findings on before awarding support.¹ Skipping any of them is grounds for appeal.

The actual need of one spouse and the ability of the other to pay.
The duration of the marriage or civil union.
The age and physical and emotional health of both spouses.
The standard of living established during the marriage, with neither party entitled to a greater standard than the other.
The earning capacity, education level, vocational skills, and employability of each spouse.
The length of time the spouse seeking support has been out of the job market.
Parental responsibilities for the children.
The time and expense needed to acquire sufficient education or training for the requesting spouse to find appropriate work, and the opportunity for future asset growth and income.
The financial and non-financial contributions each spouse made to the marriage, including homemaking, childcare, and sacrifices for the other’s career.
The equitable distribution of marital property and any payouts tied to it.
Income available from each party’s investments and assets.
The tax treatment of the alimony award for both parties.
The amount and length of any pendente lite (temporary) support already paid during the divorce.
Any other factors the court finds relevant.

The court also weighs the practical cost of maintaining two households after divorce, which inevitably stretches the same total income across more expenses than it covered before.¹

When Alimony Can Be Changed

An alimony order is not a permanent contract. The statute lets courts revise orders “as circumstances may require,” but the bar is meaningful and the paths are specific.

Changed Financial Circumstances

You cannot file a modification the day after losing your job. The statute requires that the party seeking modification have been unemployed, or unable to return to prior income, for at least 90 days before filing. When a non-self-employed spouse seeks modification, the court evaluates ten factors tailored to that situation, including the reasons for the income loss, documented job search efforts, whether the obligor is making a good-faith effort to find work at any level and in any field, the other spouse’s income, health impacts on employability, severance received, and financial changes on both sides since the original order.¹ The court can grant a temporary remedy while deciding whether a permanent change is warranted.

Good faith is the key. Voluntarily quitting a well-paying job or cutting hours to shrink an alimony obligation does not persuade judges. Keep records of every application, interview, and rejection; the person asking for a reduction carries the burden of showing it.

Retirement

The 2014 amendment created a rebuttable presumption that alimony ends when the paying spouse reaches full Social Security retirement age.¹ The court assumes alimony terminates at that age unless the receiving spouse shows it should continue. Arrears that accrued before termination remain collectible.

Which side carries the burden depends on when the order was entered. For orders entered before September 10, 2014, reaching full retirement age is treated as a good-faith retirement, but the paying spouse still has to prove alimony should actually end. For orders entered on or after that date, the burden shifts to the receiving spouse to show why it should not terminate or be reduced.¹

Early retirement is handled differently. A paying spouse who wants to retire before full Social Security age bears the burden of proving the retirement is both reasonable and made in good faith.¹ A healthy 55-year-old retiring voluntarily will have a hard time. A 62-year-old with documented health problems has a much stronger case.

Cohabitation

Alimony can be suspended or terminated if the receiving spouse begins living with a new partner. The statute defines cohabitation as a mutually supportive, intimate personal relationship in which the couple has taken on duties and privileges commonly associated with marriage or civil union.³ The couple does not have to share a single household; a court cannot rule out cohabitation solely because the partners keep separate residences.

In evaluating a cohabitation claim, the court looks at seven factors: whether the couple’s finances are intertwined, whether they share living expenses, how friends and family treat the relationship, their living arrangements and the length of the relationship, how they divide household chores, whether the new partner has made an enforceable promise of support, and any other relevant evidence.³ A short, casual relationship is not the same thing as a two-year partnership with joint accounts.

The paying spouse must go through the court to get alimony changed on this basis. Stopping payments on your own because you believe your ex is cohabiting can result in contempt.

What Happens If Payments Stop

An alimony order is a court order, and ignoring it has real consequences. New Jersey courts can order income withholding, directing the employer to deduct alimony from the paying spouse’s paycheck. Federal law caps garnishment for support obligations at 50% of disposable earnings if the paying spouse is supporting another spouse or child, or 60% if not, with an additional 5% available when payments are more than 12 weeks overdue.⁴

Beyond wage garnishment, courts can intercept tax refunds, seize bank accounts, place liens on property, and suspend driver’s and professional licenses. Past-due alimony can be reported to credit agencies. In serious cases the court can hold a non-paying spouse in contempt, which can carry fines or jail time. The statute also gives courts broad authority to “require reasonable security for the due observance of such orders,” which can include requiring life insurance or trusts to guarantee future payments.¹ If the paying spouse moves out of state, New Jersey can still pursue collection through the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. The worst move is to stop paying without a court order; arrears pile up, interest can accrue, and the court will eventually collect.

Tax Treatment

For any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31, 2018, alimony payments are not deductible by the paying spouse and are not taxable income to the receiving spouse.⁵ The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act repealed the old deduction regime by eliminating Internal Revenue Code Section 71.⁶ Virtually every New Jersey divorce finalized since 2019 falls under this rule, so alimony is a tax-neutral event on both returns.

One exception: if a pre-2019 agreement is modified after December 31, 2018, and the modification expressly states that the new tax rules apply, the current treatment replaces the old deduction-and-inclusion approach.⁶ Without that language, pre-2019 orders keep the old treatment. Because the statute lists tax consequences as one of the fourteen factors, the current rules directly influence how much a judge awards.¹

1
Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance
2
New Jersey Legislature. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance
3
FindLaw. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
5
IRS. Divorce or Separation May Have an Effect on Taxes
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 71 – Repealed