NJ has 4 types of alimony: permanent, limited duration, rehabilitative, and reimbursement. The body of case law and the NJ alimony statute have served litigants, attorneys and judges well in crafting equitable resolutions to alimony disputes. However, there are some gray areas in the law. One of those gray areas concerns how long a marriage must be in order to be considered “long term”. This is an important threshold because permanent alimony is appropriate in a long term marriage. A short term marriage is a candidate for limited duration alimony. In the case referenced below, the Appellate Division has held that a 15 year marriage cannot be considered a short term marriage.
FAMILY LAW 20-2-0941 Gnall v. Gnall, App. Div. (Lihotz, J.A.D.) (48 pp.) Reviewing plaintiff’s challenge to a limited-duration alimony award, we reversed, declaring a 15-year marriage does not qualify as short-term, precluding an award of limited-duration alimony.
