Yes, under New Jersey law, a couple’s marital lifestyle is one of the factors courts may consider when determining alimony. While courts can consider the standard of living during your marriage as a baseline, the result depends on each case’s facts, including need and ability to pay for alimony.
How judges look at your marital lifestyle
To establish what a couple’s lifestyle actually looked like, New Jersey family courts review financial records, disclosure forms and historical spending habits. Judges evaluate several key elements to determine a fair alimony award:
- Past spending habits: What is typically spent on housing, food, travel, healthcare and fun during the marriage.
- Needs versus income: The court compares what the person receiving support actually needs to live against what the other person can reasonably pay.
- Earnings and skills: Both spouses’ education, work history and their ability to earn a living after the divorce is final.
- The cost of two homes: Since one household budget is being split into two, both people often have to adjust their spending and way of life.
To get these numbers right, the court uses a financial disclosure form. Both parties must list their monthly budgets and provide bank or credit card statements to prove their expenses.
Planning for what comes next
In New Jersey, the lifestyle the spouses maintained during marriage can be an important part of the alimony analysis, but it is only one piece of the larger picture. Careful financial records and a clear explanation of monthly needs can make that evidence easier for the court to understand.