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  • 1.  15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-02-2016 04:49 PM
    Listmates:

    Do of you know of any case law where a court recently awarded 15 years of alimony for a 7 year marriage where the party seeking support is young, healthy, educated and has been out of the workforce only about 5 years - the two kids are almost school age.


     The case law I have reviewed and N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(c) certainly does not support this kind of award or am I missing something???? Also in all my alimony cases here in Jersey I have not come across anything that would support this.

    I have asked counsel to support this demand and all I get  is exceptional circumstances ---and I am like okay tell me the exceptional circumstances - exceptional circumstances is not two healthy kids heading to school in a couple of years.....show me....so I can advise my client...

    Before I start to suspect my adversary of unsavoriness and pushing a case towards trial that should be settled, I just want to know if any of you had any recent caselaw to support this.  


    Very kind regards

    Angela 


     
    www.angelabarkerlaw.com - Please go to firm's website for contact information


  • 2.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-02-2016 08:09 PM
    Check statute can't be longer than length of marriage. P has burden. Does not appear to be exceptional circumstances. Do not pass go. Get ready to try the case. You'll have a field day on cross. Offer 3-4 at most. 

    Sent from my iPhone



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  • 3.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-02-2016 08:12 PM
    Frank is correct.  New statute applies.  Unreasonable position. 



    Alice M. Plastoris, Esq.
    Office 973-538-7070
    82 Speedwell Avenue
    Morristown, NJ 07960

    Sent via the Samsung GALAXY S® 5, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone



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  • 4.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-02-2016 08:12 PM

    I agree. Statute says no longer than length of marriage...




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  • 5.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-03-2016 12:04 AM
    Agreed!

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  • 6.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-03-2016 01:15 AM

    Maybe your adversary is thinking of Gnall. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-supreme-court/1709227.html

    ------------------------------
    Jessica N. Mazur, Esq.
    Hoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas, LLP
    Partner
    Certified by the NJ Supreme Court as a Matrimonial Law Attorney
    Wall, NJ
    732-545-4717
    [email protected]

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  • 7.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-03-2016 09:01 AM

    Angela--

    Because of the lack of case law concerning the new statute, you will have a hard time finding a clear basis for or against the finding of exceptional circumstances.  It is clear, however, that in order for any award of over 7 years in your case, your adversary must prove exceptional circumstances.

    Depending upon where you are in the case, try to use the discovery tools available to serve supplemental interrogatories or Requests for Admissions to flesh out the facts for each factor the Court would consider in finding exceptional circumstances.

    Otherwise, you are going to have to rely upon your economic mediator to bring the adversary and his/her client back to reality--so be sure to choose a strong mediator.

    ------------------------------
    David Cardamone Esq.
    Little Silver NJ

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-03-2016 08:13 AM

    Judge Zampino had a case like this where he was taken up twice. I might be mistaken (because I just have no time to research the question this morning.

    The case was referred to a Schwartz I and II,

    First time around, I believe, he found permanent alimony with an 8-10 year marriage. It went up and was remanded. On remand, he granted alimony in excess of the marriage length. It might as well have been permanent, as I recall.

    It was taken up a second time and the App. Div. stated that, while it may not have decided the some way if they had the case originally, they were not about to reverse. Apologies if my recollection is flawed to all involved.

    I wouldn't necessarily count on the new statute,  since circumstances can override the presumption. I do not know, from the inquiry, whether this award was pre- or post-statute amendment. Thanks.

    ------------------------------
    Curtis Romanowski Esq.
    Senior Attorney - Proprietor
    Metuchen NJ
    (732)603-8585

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-03-2016 08:53 AM

    With all due respect to Curtis, I believe the statute creates a powerful presumption against permanent alimony in the circumstances here present. It's up to party seeking permanent alimony to establish "exceptional circumstances" and up to Angela's adversary to cite cases to the Court, not her obligation to prove a negative.

     




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  • 10.  RE: 15 years alimony for 7 year marriage

    Posted 02-03-2016 08:58 AM

    Just to be clear, while the new statute does create a presumption, it is going to take some time for case law to catch up. We can expect to see a lot of reported cases on point (or hope to). I agree that the burden is always on those challenging presumptions.

    ------------------------------
    Curtis Romanowski Esq.
    Senior Attorney - Proprietor
    Metuchen NJ
    (732)603-8585

    Original Message