Permanent alimony in New Jersey can be terminated, even when the original order set no end date. The 2014 alimony reform kept pre-existing “permanent alimony” awards in place but opened specific statutory paths to end them, including the payor’s retirement, the recipient’s remarriage or cohabitation, the payor’s death, and a substantial, permanent change in either party’s circumstances.1Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance Every path runs through a court order. You cannot simply stop paying.
Retirement Is the Main Exit for Pre-2014 Orders
If your alimony order was entered before September 10, 2014, the 2014 reform did not shorten its duration. The statute expressly says it shall not be construed to modify the duration of alimony ordered or agreed upon in a final judgment of divorce, a final post-judgment order, or an enforceable written agreement entered before the law took effect.2New Jersey Legislature. P.L. 2014, Chapter 42 What the reform did change is retirement.
When a payor with a pre-2014 order files a retirement application, reaching full retirement age is automatically deemed a “good faith” retirement age.1Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance The payor does not have to separately prove the retirement is reasonable. Full retirement age is defined by the Social Security Act; for anyone born in 1960 or later, that age is 67.3Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Born in 1960 or Later
The court still weighs whether alimony should continue, be reduced, or end. The recipient can try to keep payments going by showing good cause, and the court looks at several factors:
- The ages of both parties at the retirement application, at the marriage, and when alimony was first awarded
- How long and how deeply the recipient depended on the payor during the marriage
- Whether the recipient gave up property rights or other claims in exchange for a larger or longer alimony award
- How much alimony has already been paid and for how long
- The health of both parties
- Assets and income of both parties, earned and unearned
- Whether the recipient had the ability to save adequately for retirement
Retiring before full retirement age is harder. The payor must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that early retirement is reasonable and made in good faith, and the court examines the payor’s health, typical retirement age in that field, and whether the payor has an adequate retirement income plan.1Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance A retirement that looks engineered to escape alimony rarely succeeds.
Remarriage and Death End Alimony Automatically
Two events end alimony without requiring you to prove anything at a hearing. The first is the recipient’s remarriage or entry into a new civil union. Both open durational and limited duration alimony end on the date of the new marriage, though arrearages that accrued before that date remain owed.4Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-25 – Termination of Alimony The recipient is legally required to notify the payor and any collecting agency promptly. If the recipient fails to do so, the court can order the recipient to pay the payor’s attorney fees and court costs.
Remarriage does not automatically end rehabilitative or reimbursement alimony. Those continue unless the payor shows changed circumstances, an agreement, or other good cause to stop.4Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-25 – Termination of Alimony
The second automatic event is the payor’s death. Alimony terminates by statute, and arrearages accumulated before the death survive.4Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-25 – Termination of Alimony Alimony also ends as a practical matter when the recipient dies.
Cohabitation
If the recipient moves in with, or effectively partners with, someone new, the payor can seek to suspend or end alimony based on cohabitation. New Jersey defines cohabitation as a mutually supportive, intimate personal relationship in which the couple has taken on responsibilities commonly associated with marriage, even when they do not share a single household full-time.1Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance The court cannot rule out cohabitation solely because the couple keeps separate residences.
Seven factors guide the analysis:
- Intertwined finances such as joint accounts, joint holdings, or joint debts
- Sharing or jointly covering living expenses
- Whether family and friends recognize the relationship as a committed partnership
- How often the couple spends time together, how long the relationship has lasted, and other signs of an intimate, mutually supportive bond
- Sharing household chores
- Whether the recipient has received an enforceable promise of financial support from the new partner
- Any other relevant evidence
These claims are fact-intensive. A brand-new dating relationship rarely justifies termination. A multi-year partnership with shared expenses and a shared public identity is a much stronger case. Evidence often includes financial records, social media, witness testimony, and sometimes private investigator reports.
Changed Circumstances
Outside those categories, alimony can be modified or terminated when there is a significant, permanent change in circumstances that was not anticipated when the original order was entered. The party asking for the change carries the burden. Common examples:
- Involuntary job loss or a serious disability that reduces the payor’s earning capacity
- A substantial improvement in the recipient’s income
- A large inheritance or windfall to the recipient
“Permanent” is the operative word. A brief unemployment stretch followed by reemployment at a similar salary rarely meets the threshold. Courts scrutinize whether the reduction in the payor’s income was voluntary. Leaving a job to launch a speculative business is a much harder argument than being laid off during an industry downturn.
Filing a Motion to Terminate
Termination requires a post-judgment motion in the Family Part of the Superior Court in the county where the divorce was granted. The Judiciary publishes a multi-purpose post-judgment motion packet for this purpose.5New Jersey Courts. Post-Judgment Motions in Family Court Your filing generally includes a Notice of Motion, a certification setting out the facts supporting your request, and a current Case Information Statement covering income, expenses, assets, and debts.
For retirement-based motions, the statute requires both parties to submit current Case Information Statements along with the statements from the date of the original alimony award and from any subsequent modification.1Justia. New Jersey Code 2A:34-23 – Alimony, Maintenance That lets the court compare the parties’ financial positions over time.
Serve the motion papers on the other party or their attorney at least 24 days before the scheduled court date. If the initial submission shows enough to move forward, the court may schedule a hearing or allow discovery, including requests for financial records, depositions, and subpoenas for bank statements and tax returns. If the court finds sufficient grounds, it issues an order terminating or modifying the obligation.
Do Not Stop Paying Before the Order Issues
Even when the grounds look obvious, do not stop paying on your own. Only a court order can end the obligation. Self-help puts you at risk of contempt, which can bring fines, an order to pay the recipient’s attorney fees, and jail time. Courts also have wage garnishment, bank account levies, tax refund interception, property liens, and suspension of driver’s and professional licenses. Courts prefer not to jail payors, because it worsens the payment problem, but they will when a payor has the ability to pay and refuses.
Keep paying, file the motion, and let the court do the work. If the motion is granted, you may be entitled to a credit for payments made after the triggering event, depending on the facts.
Taxes and Social Security After Termination
Federal tax treatment depends on when the divorce agreement was executed. For agreements executed after December 31, 2018, the payor cannot deduct alimony and the recipient does not include it in income, so termination has no direct federal income tax effect. For pre-2019 agreements, the payor deducted the payments and the recipient reported them as income; termination ends both. If a pre-2019 agreement is modified and the modification expressly adopts the post-2018 rules, the new rules apply going forward.6Internal Revenue Service. Alimony and Separate Maintenance
Losing alimony does not affect Social Security. If the marriage lasted at least 10 years, the recipient may qualify for divorced-spouse benefits on the ex-spouse’s work record regardless of alimony status, and claiming does not reduce the ex-spouse’s own benefit.7Social Security Administration. More Info: If You Had a Prior Marriage For recipients facing termination at the payor’s retirement, that can soften the drop.