What happens to your alimony obligation if you become disabled and can no longer work the way you did when your support obligation was established? It's an important question, because becoming disabled does not automatically make an existing New Jersey alimony obligation disappear.
But if a disability substantially affects your ability to work and earn income, it may provide a basis to ask the court to modify your alimony obligation. As with most things involving alimony, however, the details matter.
Social Security Disability Can Be Important Evidence
One of the important New Jersey cases dealing with disability and support is Golian v. Golian. In that case, the New Jersey Appellate Division held that when the Social Security Administration has determined that a person is disabled, that determination creates a presumption of disability.
In practical terms, that is important. If the Social Security Administration has formally determined that you are disabled, you are not necessarily starting from scratch trying to convince the Family Court that your disability is legitimate. The burden can shift to the other side to present evidence rebutting that presumption. That principle has continued to be recognized by New Jersey courts.
Disability Does Not Automatically End Alimony
This is where people sometimes misunderstand the law.
Even if you have been found disabled by the Social Security Administration, that does not necessarily mean that your alimony obligation automatically ends.
You generally need to ask the court to modify the existing support order. The court can then look at your current circumstances, including your health, income, ability to work, financial resources, and the financial circumstances of your former spouse.
New Jersey's alimony statute specifically directs courts to consider factors including the parties' actual need and ability to pay, their physical and emotional health, earning capacities, employability, income, and other relevant financial circumstances.
So the real question is not simply, "Are you disabled?" The question becomes how that disability has actually affected your ability to earn income and continue paying the alimony previously ordered.
You Usually Need to Ask the Court for a Modification
If you have an existing alimony order and become disabled, you should not simply decide on your own to stop making payments. Your existing court order remains important unless and until it is modified.
Instead, you may be able to file an application asking the New Jersey Family Court to reduce, suspend, or terminate your alimony based upon your changed circumstances. And you should be prepared to document those circumstances.
That may include your Social Security Disability determination, medical evidence, current income, employment history, financial records, and other information showing how your disability has affected your ability to work and pay support.
What About Child Support and Disability Benefits?
Disability can also affect child support, although child support and alimony are separate legal obligations. When a disabled parent receives Social Security Disability benefits, a child may also qualify for dependent benefits based upon that parent's disability. Those payments can become relevant when calculating the disabled parent's child support obligation.
The important point is that you should not assume that disability benefits, either yours or your child's, automatically eliminate a child support obligation. The effect depends upon the particular facts of the case and the applicable New Jersey child support rules.
Every Disability and Alimony Case Is Different
A serious disability can completely change someone's financial circumstances. A person who was earning a substantial income when an alimony obligation was established may later find themselves unable to continue working at the same level, or unable to work at all.
New Jersey law gives courts the ability to consider those changed circumstances. But modification of alimony is not automatic, and these cases can become complicated very quickly, particularly when the parties disagree about whether someone can still work or how much income that person is capable of earning.
If you are paying alimony in New Jersey and have become disabled, get legal advice before simply reducing or stopping your payments.
If you're trying to understand how alimony, child support, property division, custody, and other issues may affect your divorce, my free Divorce Smarter Course explains the New Jersey divorce process in straightforward terms so you can make informed decisions before taking your next step.
Until next time,
Steve