When Can You Retire and Stop Paying Alimony in Monmouth County?

You are divorced.

You are paying alimony.

You have paid your alimony religiously for years.

You were never late.

You never missed a payment.

You've now reached your "normal" retirement age (usually 67).

You would like to retire now.

But there is no way that you can retire and still keep paying alimony. You don't have enough money to do that.

Certainly you do not expect your ex-wife to cooperate and agree to a termination of alimony.

Can you retire and stop paying alimony to your ex-wife?

Maybe.

If you were divorced after September of 2014, you have the benefit of a presumption under New Jersey law that you should be allowed by the Court to retire in good faith at your normal Social Security retirement age.

So that is a really good start for you. The law presumes that if you ask a judge to end your alimony when you retire at normal retirement age that you should be allowed to do so.

So what's the problem?

Well, the problem is that the presumption can be rebutted by your ex-wife.

What this means is that if you want to retire and stop paying alimony, the Court will have to weigh on the one hand the needs of your ex-wife versus your presumed right to retire.

If you were divorced before September of 2014, then you do not have the benefit of the presumption.

This makes your case a little more challenging.

But you still have significant rights that you should explore because there is often a good chance that a Judge will let someone who is of retirement age retire and stop paying alimony.

So what is "the bottom line"?

The bottom line is that the law involved in determining whether you can retire at your normal retirement age and stop paying alimony is complex.

These are usually not simple cases and often require a detailed analysis of your unique facts by an experienced divorce attorney in order for you to gauge your chances of success.

Yet retirement at "normal retirement age" often results in a termination of alimony at the end of the day in my experience.

But unless you have you ex-spouse's consent, which you are not likely to get, it will ultimately be up to the Judge.

So please...don't attempt this one yourself. You are not likely to succeed.

For this type of a case, you will almost always need an experienced New Jersey divorce lawyer who is intimately familiar with this part of the law and how to use it to your advantage to convince a judge that your right to retire outweighs your ex-spouse's need for continuing financial support.

Until next time,