quinn v. Quinn 225 NJ 34 (2016) termination of alimony enforced when cohabitation (has a lot of language in the opinion about the strong public policy in this state). See also Konzelman v Konzelman 158 NJ 185 (1999) (it talks about the statute and the public policy not to revive alimony).
The Legislature has declared that an alimony obligation "shall terminate" upon the remarriage of the supported spouse. See N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25. The statute memorializes "the strong public policy against enforcing support orders on behalf of a remarried former spouse." See Kelly v. Arato, No. A-1410-08T1, App. Div. 2009 (citing Ehrenworth v. Ehrenworth, 187 N.J. Super. 342, 347 (App. Div. 1982)).
N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25 provides in pertinent part:
If after the judgment of divorce a former spouse shall remarry, permanent and limited duration alimony shall terminate as of the date of the remarriage except that any arrearages that have accrued prior to the date of remarriage shall not be vacated or annulled. A former spouse who remarries shall promptly so inform the spouse paying permanent or limited duration alimony as well as the collecting agency, if any. The court may order such alimony recipient who fails to comply with notification provisions of this act to pay any reasonable attorney fees and court costs incurred by the recipient's former spouse as a result of such non-compliance.
The remarriage of a former spouse receiving rehabilitative or reimbursement alimony shall not be cause for termination of such alimony by the court unless the court finds that the circumstances upon which the award was based have not occurred or unless the payer spouse demonstrates an agreement or good cause to the contrary.
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N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25 mandates termination of alimony upon wife's remarriage. One of the reasons for termination is that, upon remarrying, the wife obtains a new source of support. This does not mean, however, that termination of the second marriage reinstates support from the first husband merely because support is unavailable from the second husband. ...if the remarriage ends in divorce or if the second husband dies penniless, she may not look again to her former husband. Flaxman v. Flaxman, 57 N.J. 458, 462-463 (1971). There is no question but that a valid second marriage extinguishes a wife's right to alimony from her first husband pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25. Id at 461.
There are sound reasons for not allowing the remarried wife to seek alimony from her first husband. When she enters into a second marriage ceremony, she holds herself out as having remarried. Her first husband is entitled to rely upon her new marital status. He may assume that his financial obligations to her have ceased and reorder his own affairs accordingly. Flaxman, supra. at 463. Were the Court to hold otherwise, a husband, whose divorced wife had remarried, could never be certain that the financial responsibilities for his former wife would not shift back to him. Id. The former husband's affairs should not be left in limbo subject to the conduct of parties to a relationship of which he has no part. Id.
It is clear from case law that the Court has no discretion but to terminate alimony upon remarriage of the recipient spouse. See Smith v. Smith, 224 N.J. Super. 559 (Chan. Div. 1988) (citing Sharpe v. Sharpe, 109 N.J. Super. 140 (Ch. Div. 1970) and Lepis v. Lepis, 83 N.J. 139 (1980)). The former spouse should not be obligated to support the current spouse of another. Id. at 562. In Smith, the court terminated the rehabilitative alimony of the remarried spouse based on these principles. (See also Richards v. Richards, 139 N.J. Super. 207, 208, 212 (App. Div. 1988) (The court retains no discretion to allow the wife alimony payments following a subsequent marriage. The remarriage of the spouse receiving alimony permanently terminates the support obligation. ...To hold otherwise would be to sanction the prohibition espoused by the Supreme Court in Flaxman, supra, namely, allowing the plaintiff to select her source of income.)
The Agreement in this case is silent as to termination language. However, the Agreement is clear that the alimony obligation is a limited duration alimony subject to termination pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25. Even where the agreement is silent, the Court has held that the statute governs and alimony is automatically terminated as a result of the supported spouse remarriage. Kelly v. Arato, supra.
New Jersey's Supreme Court in Konzelman v. Konzelman 158 N.J. 185 (1999), which dealt with the termination of alimony due to the cohabitation of the former wife with an unrelated male, emphatically mandated that [permanent] alimony terminates automatically on remarriage pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25. The Legislature articulated a public policy that the legal obligation of the supporting spouse is superseded and ends on the remarriage of the dependent spouse. Id. The new marriage bond itself creates a change of circumstances that the Legislature deemed sufficiently fundamental and important to require the automatic termination of alimony. Id. The legal obligation of post-divorce alimony is derived from the antecedent marriage; a new marriage supplants that obligation. Id. (citing Gayet v. Gayet, 92 N.J. 149, 151 (1983)). The remarriage justifies the termination of alimony without regard to the economic circumstances of the dependent spouse who has remarried. Id. [Emphasis added.]
N.J.S.A. 2A:34-25 provides for termination of alimony upon remarriage, without regard to the financial condition of the dependent spouse. Konzelman, supra. The decision of the dependent former spouse to form new bonds creating mutual obligations of support must be recognized, and should, therefore, supplant the legal vestiges of the prior marriage. Konzelman, supra. The statute "signals a policy to end alimony when the supported spouse forms a new bond that eliminates the prior dependency as a matter of law". Konzelman, supra. (citing Gayet, supra. 92 N.J. at 151.).
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