Experienced Spousal Support Lawyers in Bergen County 

Spousal support is the legal definition of what is often referred to casually as alimony. The purpose is to ensure that each spouse, regardless of how income was earned during the marriage, is able to live in the lifestyle they are accustomed to after the divorce. 

The state of New Jersey allows for three different spousal support structures. The first is limited duration alimony. The purpose is to allow for spouses who may have earned less income during the marriage sufficient time to rebuild their standard of living. If the marriage lasted less than 20 years, the duration period cannot last longer than the marriage itself did. 

Rehabilitative alimony serves a similar purpose. It is applied in cases where a spouse may have earned less income because they were the ones who took on the responsibility of child-raising, caring for aged parents, or other roles that are just as valuable to the marriage as a career, but don’t bring in income. A spouse in this situation might just need some additional education or training to get back up to speed in the workforce. 

There are cases where one spouse earns a higher income because of sacrifices made that involved the other spouse. This might include going to graduate school with the financial help of the other spouse. The spouse who helped financially has, at the very least, the right to be compensated for what they put in. Reimbursement alimony is the way to do that. 

Every marriage is different, from the way responsibilities were handled, to how long it lasted, to what the future career prospects of each spouse are. A fair spousal support plan will take everything into consideration.