How New Jersey calculates alimony
New Jersey's statute still uses the word "alimony," sometimes alongside "maintenance," and like California it gives judges a factor list rather than a formula. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b) sets out 14 things a court must weigh: actual need and ability to pay, the length of the marriage, age and health, standard of living and each spouse's odds of maintaining something comparable, earning capacity and education, how long the dependent spouse has been out of the job market, parental responsibilities, the time and money it would take to get more training, contributions to the marriage and to the other spouse's career, how property gets divided and what income that produces, income available from invested assets, tax consequences, and a final catch-all for anything else the court thinks matters. If a judge decides to lean heavily on one factor over the others, New Jersey law requires written findings explaining why.
Because there's no calculation built into the statute, the tool above runs the same general-purpose guideline math used across most no-formula states, and flags it clearly as non-statutory. Use it to get in the right neighborhood before you talk numbers with an attorney, not as a substitute for one.
Duration is where New Jersey's 2014 Alimony Reform Act made its biggest mark. For any marriage or civil union under 20 years, the total time alimony runs generally cannot exceed the length of the marriage itself — a 12-year marriage tops out at roughly 12 years of alimony, barring exceptional circumstances a court finds compelling enough to depart from that ceiling. Open durational alimony — what New Jersey used to call permanent alimony before the 2014 reform did away with that label — has no built-in end date, but it's only on the table for marriages of 20 years or longer. Even then, it isn't untouchable: reaching full Social Security retirement age creates a rebuttable presumption that the payor's obligation should end or be modified, and the 2014 law also added specific grounds to revisit alimony if the payor loses a job, has income drop, or the recipient starts cohabiting with someone new.
New Jersey doesn't set a minimum marriage length just to qualify for alimony in the first place — that threshold only decides which duration category applies, limited duration versus open durational, not whether you're eligible at all.
On fault: the general rule is that marital misconduct, adultery included, plays no role in a New Jersey alimony decision. The state supreme court's Mani v. Mani decision carved out two narrow exceptions — first, "economic fault," meaning marital funds were spent bankrolling an affair and that spending had a real, demonstrable financial impact on the marriage; second, conduct so egregious that continuing the couple's financial ties would offend basic notions of justice. Outside those two situations, an affair with no dollar trail attached to it typically changes nothing about the award.
The 2014 Alimony Reform Act remains the controlling law, and its last enacted amendment was a 2023 technical tweak to the cohabitation-modification language, not a structural rewrite. Two bills pending in the legislature — one that would spell out specific economic-benefit-of-cohabitation factors, another that would add health-insurance cost as an express factor — have not become law as of this writing, so don't treat either as current New Jersey alimony law.
Last reviewed: July 2026. Statute citations: N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 (factors, types, duration); P.L. 2014, Chapter 42 (2014 Alimony Reform Act).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does New Jersey have an alimony formula?
No. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b) lists 14 factors a judge weighs — actual need and ability to pay, marriage length, standard of living, earning capacity, and more — with no percentage calculation. Any dollar figure you see, including the one this tool produces, is a non-statutory planning estimate.
How long does alimony last in New Jersey?
For marriages under 20 years, total alimony generally cannot exceed the length of the marriage itself, absent exceptional circumstances. Open durational alimony, which has no fixed end date, is only available for marriages of 20 years or more, and even then it carries a rebuttable presumption of termination or modification once the paying spouse reaches full Social Security retirement age.
Does adultery affect alimony in New Jersey?
Generally no. Marital fault is not one of the 2A:34-23(b) factors. The narrow exception, from the Mani v. Mani case, is "economic fault" — marital money spent supporting an affair — or misconduct so egregious it would offend basic notions of justice to continue the parties' economic ties. An ordinary affair with no financial footprint typically changes nothing.
What is open durational alimony?
It's the replacement for what New Jersey used to call permanent alimony, created by the 2014 Alimony Reform Act. It has no built-in end date, but it's reserved for marriages of 20 years or longer, and it remains subject to modification or termination on the payor's retirement, job loss, or the recipient's cohabitation.
What happens to alimony when the paying spouse retires?
Reaching full Social Security retirement age creates a rebuttable presumption that open durational alimony should terminate or be modified. It isn't automatic — the recipient can argue against it — but the burden shifts to them to show why alimony should continue.