Gov. Chris Christie’s office announced that he signed a bill that would make significant changes to alimony, though critics have said it doesn’t go far enough.
The law Christie just signed applied mainly to future divorces, though it does allow a “rebuttable presumption” that alimony payments will end once the ex spouse paying them reaches “full retirement age” of 67. Amongst its other changes:
- For marriages that lasted fewer than 20 years, the length of alimony payments can not exceed the length of the marriage unless a judge decides there are “exceptional circumstances”
- Judges would be able to end payments if the recipient lives with a partner, even if they don’t get married.
- Judges would be able to lower payments if the payer has been out of work for 90 days.
- The term “permanent alimony” would be replaced with “open durational alimony.”
New Jersey Governor Signs New Alimony Bill