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Open Durational Alimony in New Jersey: What It Means, How It Is Calculated, and How It Ends
By Rajeh A. Saadeh, Esq. | The Law Office of Rajeh A. Saadeh, L.L.C. | New Jersey Law | August 11, 2026
Part of our August series on long-marriage divorce in New Jersey. Start with the hub: Divorce After a Long Marriage in New Jersey.
Open durational alimony is the form of spousal support that applies in New Jersey generally when a marriage has lasted twenty or more years and alimony is warranted. It replaced what was previously called permanent alimony under New Jersey’s 2014 alimony reform. The name changed; the stakes did not. Open durational alimony has no fixed end date. For the spouse who will pay it, that creates a potential long-term financial obligation that requires careful planning and a clear understanding of the specific circumstances under which it can be modified or terminated. For the spouse who will receive it, it represents the legal recognition of decades of contribution to a marriage — and the right to a standard of living that reflects what that marriage actually produced.
This post explains how New Jersey courts determine whether open durational alimony applies, how the amount is calculated, what the 2014 statutory framework means in practice, and — critically — how this form of alimony ends. That last question is the one both spouses most want answered, and it has a specific, structured answer under New Jersey law that most online resources do not explain accurately.
Understanding open durational alimony requires understanding it from both sides. The supporting spouse needs to know their true exposure and the realistic paths to modification. The dependent spouse needs to know what they are entitled to protect and what conduct could put it at risk. This post addresses both.
The Law Office of Rajeh A. Saadeh, L.L.C., handles open durational alimony disputes in New Jersey — from initial calculation through modification, enforcement, and termination. Whether you are the paying or receiving spouse, contact our office to discuss your case.
What Open Durational Alimony Is — and What It Is Not
Misreading N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(c), when a marriage has lasted twenty or more years and the court determines that alimony is warranted, open durational alimony is treated by judges and lawyers as the presumptive form of support. The presumption means that the burden falls on the supporting spouse to justify a departure — not on the dependent spouse to justify the award.
Open durational alimony is not, however, automatic or permanent in an absolute sense. Three clarifications matter:
- It is presumptive, not mandatory. A court must still determine that alimony is warranted based on the fourteen statutory factors under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b). If the dependent spouse has sufficient independent income, resources, or earning capacity, alimony may be limited or denied regardless of marriage length.
- It does not mean the amount is fixed forever. The amount can be modified upon a showing of changed circumstances that meet the standard established in New Jersey’s foundational alimony modification case law.
- It does not mean it continues indefinitely regardless of what happens. New Jersey law identifies specific events that terminate or modify open durational alimony — and those events are more accessible than many clients realize.
The key distinction from the 2014 reform: Before 2014, New Jersey had “permanent alimony” — a term that implied an obligation that never ended short of death or remarriage. Open durational alimony is deliberately worded differently: it acknowledges that the obligation is not forever, but indefinite in duration, yet subject to modification. The new law also includes a specific framework for retirement-based modification that did not clearly exist before.
How Open Durational Alimony Is Calculated in New Jersey
New Jersey has no alimony formula. Courts apply the fourteen factors enumerated in N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b) on a case-by-case basis. In long-marriage cases, four of those factors carry the most weight and generate the most litigation.
1. The Marital Standard of Living
The marital standard of living is the financial baseline for alimony in a long marriage. It is what the parties’ lifestyle actually looked like during the marriage — housing, travel, dining, vehicles, private education, club memberships, charitable contributions, household staff, and discretionary spending. Establishing it often requires documentation: credit card records, bank statements, tax returns, pay stubs, W-2s, profit and loss statements, mortgage statements, and lifestyle evidence over the years preceding the separation.
Courts have recognized that in long marriages, the marital standard of living can be established at a high level, and that the dependent spouse is entitled to support sufficient to maintain a lifestyle reasonably comparable to what the marriage produced. The 2014 alimony reform clarified that the supporting spouse is also entitled to maintain a similar lifestyle. The word “reasonably” gives courts some flexibility, but in practice the marital standard of living in a high-income long marriage anchors alimony at a level that reflects the actual economic reality of that marriage, but allocates income between the parties while they are no longer together.
The goal of alimony is to assist the supported spouse in maintaining a lifestyle reasonably comparable to the one enjoyed during the marriage. Gnall v. Gnall, 222 N.J. 414 (2015). The marital standard of living “serves as the touchstone for the initial alimony award and for adjudicating later motions for modification of the alimony award when ‘changed circumstances’ are asserted,” and alimony should be set at an amount that will “enable each party to live a lifestyle ‘reasonably comparable’ to the marital standard of living.” Crews v. Crews, 164 N.J. 11 (2000). Family courts are required to calculate “the amount the parties needed during the marriage to maintain their lifestyle.” Weishaus v. Weishaus, 180 N.J. 131 (2004). In deciding alimony, judges in the Family Part are required to come up with an actual dollar amount reflecting the marital standard of living and apportion that figure between the spouses. S.W. v. G.M., 462 N.J. Super. 522 (App. Div. 2020).
2. Need and Ability to Pay
The dependent spouse’s need and the supporting spouse’s ability to pay are the twin engines of the alimony analysis. Need is measured against the marital standard of living — what does the dependent spouse require to maintain that standard? Ability to pay is measured against the supporting spouse’s documented income and earning capacity — what can they actually sustain for themselves and their spouse?
In long marriages with significant income disparity, both of these questions generate substantial litigation. The supporting spouse typically argues their income is lower than the dependent spouse claims; the dependent spouse argues their needs are higher than the supporting spouse acknowledges. The marital lifestyle record — jointly established over decades — is often the most powerful evidence in both directions.
3. Each Party’s Earning Capacity
The dependent spouse’s earning capacity is one of the most contested factors in open durational alimony cases. A spouse who stepped back from or entirely left the workforce to raise children and maintain the household during a twenty-year marriage may have been out of their field for a decade or more. Their current earning capacity — and the realistic income they could achieve with reentry effort — is a genuinely disputed question that often requires a vocational evaluation.
Courts have recognized that income imputation — attributing to a dependent spouse the income they could earn if they sought employment commensurate with their skills and experience — is appropriate when the dependent spouse is voluntarily underemployed. But courts have also recognized that a spouse who spent twenty years managing a household and raising children cannot simply step back into the workforce at the income level they left, and that unrealistic imputation does a disservice to both the facts and the statute.
“The rationale supporting the imputation of income that could be earned from employment is that the supporting spouse could be investing his or her human capital in a more productive way by obtaining employment consistent with his or her marketable skills and training, or obtaining more or better employment, market conditions permitting, in the case of underemployed supporting spouses.” Miller v. Miller, 160 N.J. 408 (1999) (citing Harris v. Harris, 235 N.J. Super. 434 (Ch. Div. 1989); Arribi v. Arribi, 186 N.J. Super. 116 (Ch. Div. 1982)). The capacity to earn – or prospective earnings – must be considered in deciding alimony. Bonanno v. Bonanno, 4 N.J. 268 (1950). “Support orders are primarily based not so much on the actual income of the parties but on their potential to generate income.” Stiffler v. Stiffler, 304 N.J. Super. 96 (Ch. Div. 1997).
4. The Duration of the Marriage and Contributions to the Household
In a long marriage, duration itself becomes an argument for the dependent spouse. Twenty-five years of household management, child-rearing, and support of the other spouse’s career represent a substantial economic contribution that New Jersey law expressly recognizes under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b)(9) — the same contributions that are recognized in equitable distribution under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23.1(g). Courts weigh those contributions in the alimony analysis, treating them as evidence of both need (the dependent spouse’s career opportunity cost) and fairness (the supporting spouse’s ability to earn was partly enabled by the dependent spouse’s contributions).
What Open Durational Alimony Means for Each Spouse
Open durational alimony creates fundamentally different concerns depending on which side of the obligation you are on. Understanding both sides is important regardless of your position — because your attorney needs to anticipate the other side’s arguments as well as advance your own.
| If You Will Be Paying | If You Will Be Receiving |
|---|---|
| Your primary concerns are the amount, the income base used to calculate it, and the circumstances under which it can be modified or ended. The retirement provision of N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j) is your most important long-term protection — but only if it is properly preserved in the original judgment. How alimony is structured now determines your leverage at modification later. You also need to address the income calculation carefully: bonuses, equity compensation, and business distributions that inflate one year’s income should not permanently define your obligation. | Your primary concerns are securing an amount that actually reflects the marital standard of living, protecting against an income calculation that understates the paying spouse’s true earnings, and understanding what your own conduct — particularly cohabitation — can put at risk. The dependent spouse who does not fully document the marital lifestyle, or who accepts a nominal alimony figure to end the case quickly, often discovers years later that the amount is insufficient and that modification requires another contested proceeding. |
How Open Durational Alimony Ends in New Jersey
This is the question the supporting spouse most wants answered — and it has a specific, structured answer. Open durational alimony can be modified or terminated through several distinct mechanisms, each with its own legal standard and procedural requirements.
| Event | Effect | What It Requires |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient’s remarriage | Terminates | Automatic by N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25 — alimony ends on the date of remarriage. Receiving spouse must notify supporting spouse or risk paying their attorney fees. |
| Recipient’s cohabitation | May modify or terminate | Requires court application. Supporting spouse must demonstrate cohabitation in a relationship tantamount to marriage under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(n) and applicable case law. Not automatic. |
| Supporting spouse’s retirement | Presumption of modification or termination | Under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j), reaching full Social Security retirement age creates a rebuttable presumption. Recipient may rebut. Requires court application and current financial analysis. |
| Death of either party | Terminates | Alimony terminates on the death of either the supporting or receiving spouse. |
| Substantial change in circumstances | May modify | Under Lepis v. Lepis standard — substantial, continuing, unanticipated change. Applies to income changes, health changes, or other material shifts. Requires court application with financial documentation. |
| Recipient’s substantial income increase | May modify | If the recipient’s income increases to a level that substantially reduces their need, modification is available. Requires court application demonstrating the change in financial circumstances. |
Retirement and Open Durational Alimony: The Most Important Long-Term Protection
For clients currently in their fifties facing a long-marriage New Jersey divorce, the retirement modification provision of N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j) is the most significant long-term financial protection available to the supporting spouse — and one of the most important planning considerations for both parties.
The statute provides that when a supporting spouse reaches full retirement age as defined by Social Security, there is a rebuttable presumption in favor of alimony modification or termination. The presumption does not automatically terminate alimony — the receiving spouse can rebut it by demonstrating that the supporting spouse should continue paying by analyzing the N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j)(1) factors. But it creates a statutory basis for a modification application that, if properly pursued, can meaningfully reduce or end the obligation.
What “Good Faith Retirement” Means
The retirement modification provision applies to retirement at good faith retirement age. A supporting spouse who retires early — before reaching Social Security full retirement age — faces a higher burden to terminate alimony under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j)(2). Courts examine whether the retirement decision was reasonable and made in good faith – genuinely motivated by legitimate reasons, not designed to reduce the alimony obligation. A supporting spouse who retires at 55 with significant other income sources is in a very different position than one who retires at 67 after a full career.
Planning for Retirement in the Original Judgment
The single most important thing a supporting spouse can do at the time of the divorce is ensure that the original alimony judgment addresses retirement explicitly. A judgment that specifies the supporting spouse’s anticipated retirement age, the income sources that will exist in retirement, and the framework for a retirement modification application gives that spouse a much stronger position when they actually retire than a judgment that simply states a monthly payment amount and says nothing about the future.
Conversely, a receiving spouse who agrees to alimony language that locks in a retirement modification without adequate protection — for example, an automatic termination at age 65 regardless of circumstances — may find that provision enforceable even if their financial situation at that point does not justify termination. Both sides need experienced counsel at the drafting stage.
Cohabitation: What Puts Open Durational Alimony at Risk for the Recipient
Under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25, remarriage terminates alimony automatically. Cohabitation does not — but it can. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(n) and the case law that defines what qualifies, cohabitation in a relationship tantamount to marriage is a basis for modification or termination of alimony. The analysis does not require establishing that the recipient is living with a romantic partner. Courts examine whether the relationship has the financial characteristics of a marriage — shared expenses, commingled finances, mutual support, and the kind of economic interdependence that distinguishes a household partnership from a dating relationship. See Cardali v. Cardali, 255 N.J. 85 (2023)
For the supporting spouse, proving cohabitation requires investigation — social media, property records, utility accounts, financial records, and in contested cases, sometimes a private investigator. The burden of proof is on the party seeking modification. Courts do not reduce alimony based on rumors or suspicion; they require documented evidence of a qualifying relationship.
For the receiving spouse, the practical implication is clear: entering into a live-in or interdependent relationship that has the financial characteristics of a marriage puts alimony at risk. This does not mean a recipient cannot have a personal life — it means that the decision to cohabitate in a physical financially interdependent way has legal consequences that should be understood before, not after, the fact.
Modification Based on Changed Circumstances: The Lepis Standard
Outside of retirement and cohabitation, the general framework for modifying open durational alimony is the changed circumstances standard established in New Jersey’s leading alimony modification case. The standard requires the moving party to demonstrate a substantial, continuing change in circumstances that was not anticipated at the time of the original judgment. See Lepis v. Lepis, 83 N.J. 139 (1980).
The changed circumstances standard applies to both upward and downward modification. A supporting spouse whose income has significantly and permanently decreased — through job loss, health issues, or a genuine career change — can seek downward modification. A receiving spouse whose needs have materially increased, or who can demonstrate that the original alimony amount was insufficient from the outset, can seek an upward modification. See Crews v. Crews, 164 N.J. 11 (2000) (an alimony recipient is not entitled to enjoy a standard of living that is better than the one enjoyed during the marriage to the extent that alimony funds the excess lifestyle).
What the standard does not allow is routine relitigation of alimony based on dissatisfaction with the original outcome. Courts expect finality. The changed circumstances that qualify for modification are material and durable — not the ordinary fluctuations in income or expenses that any person experiences over time.
The arrears rule: Under N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.23a, child support arrears in New Jersey accrue as a judgment by operation of law and cannot be retroactively reduced. Although this statute does not involve alimony, many judges and lawyers in New Jersey treat the law as if it does, and the Appellate Division generally defers to Family Part judges who make such decisions and will likely continue to do so until a particular appeal involving this issue comes before a panel of appellate judges that decides the case under what the law actually says, and does not say. So, even though a supporting spouse who falls behind is not prohibited by law from later seeking to have past-due alimony amounts eliminated by arguing changed circumstances, it is best to make an alimony modification motion as soon as possible because the remedy of reducing alimony is practically prospective only. A supporting spouse whose circumstances have changed should file for modification immediately — not continue paying what they cannot afford and accumulate arrears that cannot be undone.
Frequently Asked Questions: Open Durational Alimony in New Jersey
What is open durational alimony in New Jersey?
Open durational alimony is spousal support with no fixed end date, available under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b) in New Jersey generally in marriages of twenty or more years when the court determines alimony is warranted. It replaced permanent alimony under the 2014 reform. It continues until the recipient remarries, cohabitates in a qualifying relationship, either party dies, or a court modifies or terminates it based on changed circumstances — including the supporting spouse’s retirement.
Does New Jersey automatically award open durational alimony in a 20-year marriage?
No. Although the law does not require this, a twenty-year marriage creates a practical presumption held by many judges and lawyers in favor of open durational alimony when alimony is warranted — it does not make alimony automatic. Courts still apply the fourteen statutory factors under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b). If the dependent spouse has sufficient independent income or earning capacity, alimony may be limited or denied. The presumption shifts the burden to the supporting spouse to justify a departure from open durational support, not to the dependent spouse to justify the award.
How is open durational alimony calculated in New Jersey?
New Jersey has no alimony formula. Courts apply fourteen statutory factors under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b). In long-marriage cases the dominant factors are the marital standard of living, each party’s income and earning capacity, the duration of the marriage, and the dependent spouse’s contributions to the household. The marital standard of living — established through detailed lifestyle analysis — typically anchors both the amount and the justification for open durational support.
Can open durational alimony be terminated when I retire in New Jersey?
Yes, under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j)(1). When a supporting spouse reaches full Social Security retirement age, there is a rebuttable presumption in favor of modification or termination. The receiving spouse may rebut it by showing the supporting spouse retains the ability to pay and the recipient’s needs remain unmet. Retirement at a younger age — before full Social Security retirement age — faces a higher burden and requires demonstrating good faith under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j)(2). How alimony is structured in the original judgment significantly affects this application’s strength.
Does my ex’s new live-in partner affect my alimony obligation in New Jersey?
Potentially, yes. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(n), cohabitation in a relationship tantamount to marriage can support modification or termination. Courts examine financial interdependence — shared expenses, commingled finances, mutual support — not merely physical cohabitation as roommates. Proving it requires documentation and, in contested cases, investigation. Remarriage terminates alimony automatically under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25; cohabitation requires a court application and a showing that the relationship meets the qualifying standard.
What is the changed circumstances standard for modifying alimony in New Jersey?
New Jersey’s changed circumstances standard, established in foundational case law, requires a showing of a substantial, continuing change in circumstances that was not anticipated when the original judgment was entered. Significant income loss, major health changes, and retirement at good faith retirement age are qualifying circumstances. Temporary hardship, routine income fluctuation, and self-created circumstances — such as voluntarily leaving a well-paying job without adequate justification — generally do not qualify.
Can the amount of open durational alimony be changed if my financial situation changes?
Yes, in either direction. A supporting spouse whose income has substantially and permanently decreased can seek downward modification. A receiving spouse whose needs have materially increased can seek upward modification. In both cases the changed circumstances standard applies — the change must be substantial, continuing, and not anticipated at the time of the original order. Although the law does not support this, past-due alimony that has already accrued cannot be retroactively reduced regardless of changed circumstances.
Contact The Law Office of Rajeh A. Saadeh, L.L.C., About Open Durational Alimony
Open durational alimony is the most financially significant issue in most long-marriage New Jersey divorces. Whether you are the spouse who will pay it or the spouse who will receive it, the decisions made at the time of the divorce — how the amount is calculated, what income is included, what the judgment says about retirement — shape an obligation that can span decades. Getting those decisions right requires experienced counsel who understands both the legal framework and the financial modeling that underlies it.
The Law Office of Rajeh A. Saadeh, L.L.C., handles open durational alimony disputes across New Jersey — from initial calculation through modification proceedings, retirement applications, cohabitation investigations, and enforcement. We represent both supporting and receiving spouses and bring the same thorough, aggressive approach to both sides of the table. We serve clients throughout New Jersey, including in Somerset County, Middlesex County, Morris County, Hunterdon County, and Monmouth County.
