When a couple gets divorced, one party may have to pay alimony to the other. However, financial circumstances can change, and when things change significantly, these changes can provide a basis for modifying an alimony obligation, often downward.
Generally, to reduce alimony in New Jersey, the party who pays must be able to establish that there has been a substantial change of circumstances; some examples include meaningful changes in either spouse’s income, an illness or disability that arose after the original Order was issued, retirement, or the receiving spouse cohabitating with a new romantic partner. The alleged change must be substantial and cannot be temporary.
Losing a job is (ideally) temporary, and therefore, no request to reduce alimony can even be made until at least 90 days of unemployment or new employment at a reduced income. In order to qualify to change alimony based on a job loss, the loss must be involuntary, meaning the person cannot get relief from alimony for choosing to leave a job and the job loss cannot have come about by any action of the person that caused them to get fired for cause. Even though the request has to wait at least 90 days, the Court can look backwards and reduce alimony as of the date of the loss of employment. The Court also has other options, like suspending or temporarily reducing support. The Court will want to see proof of a reasonable effort to get another job earning about the same before granting any reduction in alimony.
Attorneys at Martine, Katz Scanlon & Schimmel are here to provide guidance regarding your specific circumstances and can help you chart a path forward for modifying your alimony order, or how to address if you receive alimony and this issue has come up.