Family law (2023): Dissolution of marriages - Alimony (Part Two)

In the United States, family laws and precedents as they relate to divorce, community property and alimony vary based on state law. Also, with new family models, "working couples", "working wives", "stay-at-home dads", etcetera, there are situations where some parties to a divorce question whether traditional economic allocations made in a divorce are fair and equitable to the facts of their individual case. Some groups have proposed various forms of legislation to reform alimony parameters (for example amounts and term). Alimony terms are among the most frequent issues causing litigation in family law cases. Eighty percent of divorce cases involve a request for modification of alimony.

Some states (for example Florida, Texas, Maine) are moving away from permanent alimony awards that are intended to maintain a spouse's standard of living enjoyed during the marriage and are moving towards durational or rehabilitative alimony. In other states, like Mississippi and Tennessee, alimony is usually awarded for life.

Some of the critical issues that proponents and opponents of alimony reform disagree upon are:

Whether alimony should be temporary or permanent

Regardless of duration, should alimony payers have the unquestionable right to retire?

Does the lesser earning spouse deserve alimony to meet his or her basic needs (sustenance) or enough to sustain "the lifestyle accustomed to during the civil union or marriage"?

Should the income and assets of a new spouse be used in determining how much alimony gets paid?

How clear and prescriptive should state statutes be versus allowing a larger degree of Judicial Discretion?

In 2012, bills were introduced in the New Jersey Assembly and Senate. The Assembly passed a bill calling for a Blue Ribbon Commission to address Alimony Reform. The Senate has a similar bill pending that has not yet been posted in the Judiciary Committee. The NJ Matrimonial Bar Association has been vehemently fighting against Alimony Reform, led by Patrick Judge Jr. chairman of the Family Law section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Attorney Judge stated that the New Jersey State Bar Association ("NJSBA") objected to the inclusion of individuals with a vested interest in reforming alimony on the Blue Ribbon Commission and that the NJSBA supported the "establishment of a commission but only as long as the commission is constituted so that a fair and unbiased review of the current alimony laws takes place… should not be predisposed to an outcome…."

In 2023 Florida passed an alimony reform bill (SB 1416) which eliminated permanent alimony and established a process for allowing alimony payers to request modifications when they want to retire. The bill allowed judges to reduce or terminate alimony obligations based on a number of factors. The passage came after decades of contentious debate garnering three vetoes of similar bills. Some groups that were previously major opponents of the reform approved of the 2023 policy, such as Florida Family Fairness and The Florida Bar.