Nearly three years ago, in February 2012, alimony became the subject of contentious legislative debate in New Jersey. A reform movement was quickly afoot, and there were calls for a blue ribbon commission to study and review the laws governing alimony. Both the Senate and the Assembly soon introduced resolutions to establish a commission. The New Jersey State Bar Association supported a commission to review alimony, and amassed a coalition of 24 separate organizations, totaling more than 160,000 members, to push for enactment of a revised alimony statute. The groups advocating for reform were also pushing for a commission.

Over the next two years, however, the alimony reformers would deviate from supporting a commission, instead supporting the establishment of formulaic guidelines that essentially mimicked those enacted in Massachusetts in 2010. Family lawyers in New Jersey recognized that the application of the Massachusetts-based arbitrary guidelines had no place in New Jersey, as our courts, to achieve fairness and equity, place significant weight on the individual facts and circumstances of each particular case. As the lobbying efforts intensified in both camps, with the reformers on one side and the coalition on the other, it was critical to the coalition that any alterations to the alimony statute continue to recognize that marriages and civil unions are partnerships and, therefore, sacrifices and commitments made by both parties during these partnerships must be considered in any alimony analysis.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]