Understanding Alimony in New Jersey:
A Complete Guide

New Jersey recognizes four types of alimony: open durational alimony (formerly called permanent alimony), limited durational alimony, rehabilitative alimony, and reimbursement alimony. Each serves a different purpose.

The 2014 reform fundamentally changed how New Jersey approaches spousal support. The most significant change eliminated “permanent alimony” for marriages of 20 years or less. In shorter marriages, limited-duration alimony typically cannot exceed the length of the marriage. The reform also changed how retirement affects alimony and created clearer standards for modification.

This is one of the most common misconceptions. The 20-year threshold matters, but it doesn’t create an automatic entitlement to open durational alimony.

What it actually means: for marriages of 20 years or more, open durational alimony becomes possible without the strict time limitations that apply to shorter marriages. But it’s not automatic. In a 20-year marriage in which both spouses earn similar incomes—say, $90,000 each—there may be no alimony. In a 22-year marriage in which one spouse earns $180,000, and the other hasn’t worked for 18 years, open durational alimony makes sense. The 20-year mark opens the door to longer duration, but doesn’t guarantee any particular outcome.

In New Jersey, 13 specific factors are considered when determining whether alimony is appropriate, how much, and for how long. These include: actual need and ability to pay; duration of the marriage; age and health of both parties; standard of living during the marriage; earning capacities; education and time needed for training; parental responsibilities; contributions to the marriage; property division; income from all sources; and tax treatment.

The analysis examines the whole picture of your marriage, your contributions, and your prospects. Understanding these factors helps you prepare for negotiation.

How Do I Calculate Alimony When Income Includes Bonuses

If you or your spouse receives bonuses, commissions, or variable compensation, calculating alimony becomes more complex. For example, if bonuses ranged from $80,000 to $140,000 over five years, do you use the average of $110,000? What if the recent trend shows increasing bonuses—should future projections be higher?

In New Jersey, income gets averaged over several years, but trends matter too. You’ll need several years of tax returns, an understanding of bonus structure (guaranteed, discretionary, performance-based?), and realistic projections. This requires financial analysis beyond tax returns alone.

This is one of the central tensions in alimony negotiations. The standard of living during marriage matters, but so does actual need. How do you balance these competing considerations?

Here’s the reality: maintaining the exact marital lifestyle in two separate households is usually financially impossible. For example, if you maintained a $10,000 monthly lifestyle during marriage, trying to give both spouses $8,000 monthly post-divorce isn’t sustainable. The key is distinguishing between genuine needs (housing, food, healthcare) and lifestyle preferences (private school, country club). Need creates a floor. Lifestyle considerations influence how far above that floor alimony reaches.

For divorces finalized after December 31, 2018, federal tax treatment of alimony changed dramatically. Alimony is no longer deductible for the paying spouse and is no longer taxable income for the receiving spouse.

Before 2019, the tax benefit created efficiency. Someone in the 35% bracket paying $60,000 in alimony actually spent only $39,000 after tax. Now they need to earn $92,000 pre-tax to have $60,000 available for alimony after paying their own taxes. This means alimony amounts need to be considered differently, and property settlements may be more tax-efficient than ongoing alimony.

How Long Will I Pay or Receive Alimony

Duration depends heavily on marriage length. In a 12-year marriage, limited-duration alimony typically cannot exceed 12 years. For an 18-year marriage, the limit is typically 18 years. For a 22-year marriage, you’ve crossed the threshold for open durational alimony—there’s no automatic time cap.

These are guidelines, not rigid rules. A 12-year marriage with serious health issues may warrant more extended support. In a 22-year marriage where both spouses have similar earning capacity, there may be no alimony.

How Should Retirement and Social Security Affect Negotiations

Retirement planning is crucial in alimony negotiations, especially for older couples. How retirement accounts are divided affects each spouse’s retirement income, which in turn affects whether alimony is needed and for how long.

In New Jersey, since 2014, reaching full retirement age (67 for most people) creates a valid basis for modifying or terminating alimony. You need to think about retirement timing in negotiations. If one spouse plans to retire in 10 years, what happens to alimony then?
Social Security matters too. After 10 years of marriage, a divorced spouse can claim benefits based on the other spouse’s earnings record without reducing what they receive. If one spouse will receive $3,200 monthly and the other only $1,100 on their own record but can claim $1,600 based on their ex-spouse’s record, that extra $500 monthly affects what’s reasonable for post-retirement alimony.

The Difference Between Mediation and Litigation

The process you choose affects not just timeline and cost, but often the outcome itself. In litigation, each spouse hires an attorney. Discovery is expensive. Positions become entrenched. If you can’t settle, a judge who’s never lived your life makes decisions about your financial future based on a few hours of testimony. Legal fees typically run $25,000 to $75,000 per person—$50,000 to $150,000 combined.

In mediation, you work with one neutral mediator who helps you analyze your financial situation objectively and develop options that work for both of you. Comprehensive mediation typically costs $8,000 to $15,000 total. You can structure creative solutions—like alimony at $3,000 per month for 8 years, then stepping down to $1,500 per month for four more years as earning capacity grows. That kind of customization doesn’t happen in court.

How to Negotiate When Incomes Are Very Different

Significant income disparity often drives alimony, but also makes negotiations more challenging. The higher-earning spouse may feel resentful. The lower-earning spouse may feel anxious about financial security.

The key is to focus on the purpose of alimony: helping both spouses maintain a reasonably comparable standard of living and transition to financial independence. When incomes are very different—say $200,000 versus $40,000 or one spouse hasn’t worked—several questions become crucial: What is the lower-earning spouse’s actual earning capacity? What’s realistic for workforce reentry? Does education or training make sense? When both spouses approach negotiations from this balanced perspective, solutions emerge.

Alimony negotiations can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re already dealing with the emotional upheaval of divorce. But understanding how New Jersey handles alimony, carefully analyzing the financials, and approaching negotiations strategically make these conversations manageable.

If you went to court, you’d face a judge making decisions in a brief hearing without truly understanding your financial complexity—your variable compensation, your business income, your earning capacity trajectory, your retirement timeline. You’d get a standard order that might not fit your circumstances. Legal fees would drain tens of thousands of dollars that could have funded your future.

Mediation offers a different path. Instead of hiring opposing attorneys to battle, you work with a mediator who helps you understand how New Jersey handles these issues, analyzes your finances with sophisticated depth, and develops solutions tailored to your family’s circumstances.

With an MBA in Finance and nearly 20 years of mediation experience, I help couples move beyond anxiety about alimony to clarity about what works. We don’t just pick numbers—we model scenarios, project long-term impacts, and build agreements that account for how your lives will change over 5, 10, or 15 years. What happens when the kids finish college? When the lower-earning spouse’s income grows? When retirement approaches? We build those provisions in from the start.

That future-focused approach means you’re creating an agreement that adapts to real life instead of becoming outdated the moment circumstances change. You understand precisely how alimony adjusts when income fluctuates, when career development happens, and when retirement arrives. You’re not left wondering whether every change requires going back to modify the agreement.

You can structure creative solutions a court couldn’t order—step-downs tied to milestones, hybrid property-and-alimony approaches that are more tax-efficient, provisions that coordinate with retirement planning. The process is collaborative by design, focusing on problem-solving rather than positioning.

Your divorce doesn’t have to be a battle. With sophisticated financial analysis, understanding of how New Jersey handles alimony, and an approach that keeps both of your concerns at the center, you can reach an agreement that allows both of you to move forward with security and dignity—and keep the money in your pockets instead of paying attorneys to fight.