The prospect of divorce after many years of marriage can be a frightening one. That’s particularly true for those whose spouses have been the primary earners in the marriage.
Whether you largely left the workforce to be a stay-at-home parent or you pursued a career that paid considerably less than your spouse’s, you may fear that even if you can support yourself after divorce, your standard of living will be considerably lower than what you’ve been used to during the marriage.
What does New Jersey law say?
Under New Jersey law, one of the factors judges can consider when awarding alimony, or spousal support, is the “standard of living established in the marriage or civil union and the likelihood that each party can maintain a reasonably comparable standard of living, with neither party having a greater entitlement to that standard of living than the other.”
Basically, that means if your spouse is able to pay you enough support to allow you to continue in something close to your marital lifestyle without compromising their own standard of living, they can be ordered to do so. However, a judge can and will consider your ability to increase your own income (at least over time) given your work experience, education, age, health and other factors.
They may also consider factors like whether you contributed to your spouse’s financial success. Maybe you worked to put them through graduate school, provided unpaid services for their business in the early stages or cared for the kids and the home so they could travel extensively or have 80-hour workweeks.
It’s generally best when divorcing spouses can work out their own support (and other) agreements with the help of their legal representatives. However, if that’s not possible, it’s crucial to be able to make a convincing case to a judge to obtain the spousal support that will leave you financially secure as you move on to the next chapter of your life.