Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey

Re: child support and/or alimony

To answer your question, alimony is totally separate from child support, it is a completely different thing. A wife can be entitled to receive alimony even if she is receiving child support.

To answer the question that you did NOT ask, yes, you need an attorney to assist you in a divorce, especially if there are children. A divorce will affect their lives, and your life, for many many years. Handling a divorce poorly can leave you struggling to pay the rent, unable to make your life and your children's lives comfortable, when it need not be so. Please, please hire an attorney.

If you would like, give me a call to set up an appointment; I am in northern New Jersey. My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.

Disclaimer: you can not rely on the advice of an attorney given over the internet. The exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.

Re: child support and/or alimony

Child support and alimony are totally different responsibilities. Child support is owed by every parent in an amount determined by that parent's share of child support required under guidelines set by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. The more joint, net income the parent's earn the greater the amount of child support obligation under the guidelines. Each parent pays a percentage of the total child support obligation based upon the percentage of their total net income which the particular parent earns. Of course the parent with residential custody does not make payments but the parent without residential custody pays the required amount to the residential parent on a weekly basis.

Alimony is based on a number of factors. The most important factor is whether one spouse earns considerably more than the other. If their individual incomes are roughly equal there is no alimony. Another factor is the length of the marriage. A brief marriage makes the payment of alimony of short duration, if it is required. A marriage lasting more than ten years requires permanent payment of alimony, with a number of qualifications to this rule. The value of the marital estate that is to be divided between the

spouses has an impact on the payment of alimony.

All of this information is no substitute for a consultation with an attorney about your specific situation.

Gary Moore, Esquire

Hackensack, New Jersey

www.garymooreattorneyatlaw.com