While perhaps talking about different numbers than those of us in the real world, many celebrities end up paying the same percentage of their net worth that “regular” people pay for support in a divorce case. Jennifer Lopez, was only married to her backup dancer and choreographer Cris Judd for eight months and she reportedly paid him $14 million in a settlement agreement to end their marriage. Neil Diamond was married for 25 years to Marcia Murphey and he paid her $150 million in a settlement agreement after she filed for divorce. Neil Diamond reported years later that she was “worth every penny”.

Many celebrities, like “regular people” come to an agreement on spousal maintenance rather than argue about it in court. One reason may be that they don’t want to disclose all their financial documents in court. Another reason may be that they want to control the outcome of their own divorce. When a couple divorces, they can create a settlement agreement for spousal support or they can let the court set an amount. Courts have a great deal of discretion for setting spousal support and it can be hard to guess how any given court will rule in a divorce. Taking charge of your own spousal support agreement allows parties to create an agreement that is right for their unique circumstances.

Getting Legal Help

Custody and parenting time disputes can be complicated legal matters which most people should not attempt without excellent legal representation. Experienced Family Law Attorney Jeffrey M. Bloom can help you understand your rights and make the divorce process easier. We can work with you to get through the process with dignity and respect.  Contact us today at 201-868-9300.

When determining the right amount of spousal support, a spouse may receive money to cover the expense of re-training in order to give the spouse a better opportunity to be financially secure on his/her own.  The laws states one of the factors for setting spousal support is:

“The time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment, the availability of the training and employment, and the opportunity for future acquisitions of capital assets and income.”

This factor in determining spousal support allows a spouse who may have given up education or training opportunities to raise children or care for the family to go back to school and to be trained to make enough money for self-support.  For example a wife who did not finish her bachelor’s degree in Education after she got married, may qualify for college tuition as spousal support to give her the education she would need to become a licensed teacher.

Perhaps the key word in the law is “appropriate employment” because a spouse cannot claim she needs money to become an astronaut or an ER doctor if those are not areas in which she is likely to work or if her background does not lend itself to working in those fields.

People should be reasonable about what they can and cannot do for a living to provide for their own needs and those of their family. Both spouses should work if they are physically able to work and any spouse who gave up time in the work force to care for the family should be provided the money needed to re-train to join the work force and make up for time and opportunities lost.

Getting Legal Help

Experienced Family Law Attorney Jeffrey M. Bloom can help you understand your rights and make the divorce process easier. We can work with you to get through the process with dignity and respect.  Contact us today at 201-868-9300.

People get lots of advice from well-meaning friends when they go through a divorce and everyone has stories of what they have heard people should and should not do. One piece of bad advice is “start spending more money so your monthly living expenses are higher”.

Courts do consider the marital standard of living when determining spousal support in New Jersey. The martial standard of living is not established after parties separate or in the last few months before the divorce. The marital standard of living is based on the standard the spouses had during the length of the marriage—or in the most recent years if there has been a change.

For example someone who has had a cleaning person come once a week for several years can claim the cleaning person was the marital standard but someone who starts hiring a cleaning person just a couple months before filing for divorce may not be successful in claiming that is an expense which was standard and ordinary during the marriage.

Both spouses should be able to maintain the marital standard of living if there is enough income and property to do so. In cases where there is not enough income to support the marital standard of living for two households, both spouses will be expected to make sacrifices and changes to their marital standard of living.  Spousal support will be based on the parties’ reasonable monthly living expenses, the standard of living established during the marriage, and the available income to pay support and all other bills.

Getting Legal Help

Experienced Family Law Attorney Jeffrey M. Bloom can help you understand your rights and make the divorce process easier. We can work with you to get through the process with dignity and respect.  Contact us today at 201-868-9300.

Spousal support is money (usually monthly payments) given from one spouse to the other to allow both spouses to continue to maintain the marital standard of living if possible.  Spousal support is not awarded in all divorces and there is no rule which favors women or men as far as who should pay spousal support and who should receive support. Spousal support is awarded based on income and earning potential. Some of the factors considered in determining spousal support are:

• The actual need and ability of the parties to pay;
• The duration of the marriage;
• The age, physical and emotional health of the parties;
• The standard of living established in the marriage and the likelihood that each party can maintain a reasonably comparable standard of living;
• The earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills, and employability of the parties;
• The length of absence from the job market of the party seeking maintenance;
• The parental responsibilities for the children;
• The time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment, the availability of the training and employment, and the opportunity for future acquisitions of capital assets and income;
• The income available to either party through investment of any assets held by that party;
• Any other factors which the court may deem relevant. 

Each party presents his/her opinion on the need for spousal maintenance, the amount of maintenance and the duration of the maintenance and uses the above factors to provide evidence in support of their positions. The court must then weigh the evidence supporting the above factors and make a determination on maintenance.  It is generally a subjective matter and the court has the discretion to rule as it deems appropriate.

Getting Legal Help

Experienced Family Law Attorney Jeffrey M. Bloom can help you understand your rights and make the divorce process easier. We can work with you to get through the process with dignity and respect.  Contact us today at 201-868-9300.