If you’re going through a divorce and you have minor children, then the issue of child support and alimony will figure prominently into your divorce proceedings. An experienced child support and alimony attorney in Freehold, Perth Amboy, Plainfield and surrounding communities can help you navigate through the complexities of child support and alimony in New Jersey, but here are several basic facts you should know as you start to educate yourself on the subject.
- The state has developed the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines and it is used to help calculate the amount of child support in a divorce. However, many times this amount may change and is either negotiated or litigated.
- Child support is not based on gender. A mother or a father can be required to make child support payments.
- Child support is a child’s right. Every parent is required to support their child financially, provide a clean and safe living environment and make sure the child has food and water.
- Child support lasts until the child is 18 and no longer in school. If the child attends college, the parents may be responsible for college expenses as well.
- When calculating child support, the amount must also include the expense of health insurance.
- There are many types of alimony, including temporary alimony, short-term rehabilitative alimony to help build a spouse’s workforce skills, limited duration alimony, and long-term permanent alimony.
- The New Jersey Alimony statute uses 13 factors to determine the amount and duration of alimony. Some of these factors include health, education, marriage length, standard of living and other related factors.
- In a marriage of less than 20 years, alimony payments cannot last longer than the actual marriage.
Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq is a full service New Jersey law firm with offices in Elizabeth, Freehold, Hackensack, Newark, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Plainfield and Trenton.
