In Atwell v. Atwell, the Appellate Division addressed the trial court’s obligation to consider pendente lite support paid by an obligor spouse in awarding limited duration alimony pursuant to the recently revised alimony statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23. Defendant husband appealed the trial judge’s award of five (5) years of limited duration alimony commencing from the entry…
In the recent unpublished decision of A.E.C. v. J.T., the Appellate Division confirmed that the separation of the parties following the entry of a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) should not be a dispositive factor for the court in determining whether or not to award permanent restraints. Plaintiff A.E.C. appealed the trial court’s denial of a…
In Deegan v. Deegan, 254 N.J. Super. 350 (App. Div. 1992), the Appellate Division answered “maybe”, finding that where a former spouse seeks to terminate alimony based upon a voluntary early retirement, closer scrutiny is required. Specifically, the trial court must evaluate the age and health of the retiring spouse, the timing and motive behind…
In the landmark case of Tannen v. Tannen, 416 N.J. Super. 248 (App. Div. 2010), the Appellate Division conclusively determined (as upheld by the Supreme Court, see 208 N.J. 409 (2011)) that a divorcing spouse could not be imputed income based upon their interest in a discretionary trust for the purpose of calculating support obligations.…
The question of what to do where a supporting spouse loses his employment and obtains a new position at a significantly lower salary has long troubled our State’s judiciary. In Mills v. Mills, the Chancery Division of Ocean County attempted to provide a more clear-cut analysis for family courts to follow in the wake of…
You just got in a car accident. You have been out of work for three months and you have thousands of dollars in hospital and medical bills. You’ve met with numerous personal injury attorneys that have already informed you that you can expect an award of over $150,000. You also want a divorce from your…
Sure, inheritances during a divorce are exempt from equitable distribution (as long as you follow certain rules such as not commingling said funds with marital monies); however, you probably did not know that they are not entirely exempt when it comes to purposes surrounding your child support and alimony issues. In Penza v. Penza, the…
Our State’s Appellate Division recently held that where divorcing parties regularly saved a portion of their earnings during the marriage, that same should be considered as part of the “marital lifestyle” when determining alimony (support) awards. In Lombardi v. Lombardi, the Court addressed a situation where the parties, despite Husband’s significant income, lived a relatively…
The July 2016 decision of Avelino-Catabran v. Catabran, 445 N.J. Super. 574 (App. Div. 2016) proved to be another precedential decision in the body of New Jersey college contribution cases. Specifically, Avelino-Catabran served to raise the level of consciousness for family law attorneys and clients alike, relative to the clear, plain language of litigant’s matrimonial…
It is well-established that the accumulation of reasonable savings should be included in alimony to protect the supported spouse against the loss of alimony. In short, savings has always been a relevant and appropriate factor to be considered in the establishment of a reasonable alimony award because the amount of support awarded is subject to…