NJ’s alimony legislation will likely be up to date after Christie indicators the legislation
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Governor Chris Christie has signed a bill (A845) that significantly changes New Jersey’s child support law
(Star Ledger)
TRENTON — New Jersey’s child support law — derided by many as archaic — is getting an update.
Governor Chris Christie’s office announced tonight that he has signed legislation (A845) that would make significant changes to child support payments, although critics said it doesn’t go far enough.
The law Christie just signed applies primarily to future divorces, although it allows for a “rebuttable presumption” that alimony payments will end once the ex-spouse paying them reaches the “full retirement age” of 67.
Among the other important changes:
• For marriages that have lasted less than 20 years, the duration of alimony payments cannot exceed the duration of the marriage unless a judge determines that “extraordinary circumstances” exist.
• Judges could stop payments if the recipient lives with a partner, even if they don’t marry.
• Judges could cut payments if the payer has been unemployed for 90 days.
• The term “permanent maintenance” would be replaced by “open permanent maintenance”.
Christie did not comment on the signing of the bill.
Proponents of an overhaul of the maintenance system have been divided on whether to support the bill.
Thomas Leustek — founder of the New Jersey Alimony Reform — said it was a “about-face” for New Jersey, even if it didn’t go as far as he would like.
“I’m over the moon that he signed the bill because it completely reverses existing maintenance laws,” Leustek, a professor of plant biology at Rutgers, said in a phone interview.
According to Leustek, the biggest change is removing the assumption that alimony payments should be permanent.
“The previous law…has what I call the permanent First Doctrine. A judge would have to explain why permanent alimony would be unreasonable if he chooses to award another type of alimony. Imagine that,” Leustek said. “Now we have a bill that will change that completely. It states that the alimony is no longer than the length of the marriage and has a definitive end date at retirement age when the alimony is expected to end.”
But others who advocated alimony reform argued that the legislation hadn’t done enough to help current alimony payers. Stuart Meissner, who ran for the U.S. Senate last year to spur alimony reform, told the Senate Judiciary Committee in June that any new alimony law should rely more on formulas to give judges less discretion.
“Judges are not supposed to make laws. This body is. They reversed everything,” Meissner said at the time.
Matt Friedman can be reached at mfriedman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattfriedmanSL. Find NJ.com policies on Facebook.
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