36. I was recently let go from my job as a computer technician. I was earning $110,000  per year. I was recently retrained to be a nurse’s assistance. I now only earn $300 per week. My alimony obligation is $450 per week based on my prior earnings. What are my chances of being able to have my alimony reduced?
Your chances of being able to reduce your alimony would depend on many factors. The most significant factor is which judge you reviews your Lepis motion. In my professional opinion, you could have five different judges review your alimony reduction motion, and you would receive five different results. This is simply the reality of the family court system. At the every least, you will probably receive a plenary hearing to enable you to try to convince the court that you need some relief.
An illustrative case is Storey v. Storey, 373 N.J. Super. 464 (App. Div. 2004). Here, the plaintiff/husband Mr. Storey appealed from a post-judgment order that denied his request to terminate his alimony. Mr. Storey’s main argument was that alimony must be determined on his present income and not on imputed income. At the plenary hearing, the family court judge imputed $60,000 to him based on prevailing wages for computer service technicians. Thus, the court reduced his alimony from $480 to $280 per week. However, Mr. Storey was still not satisfied because he wanted to terminate his alimony. Therefore, Mr. Storey still appealed even though his alimony was reduced by $200 per week.
On appeal the Storey court upheld the decision. The main focus in the opinion is that when an alimony payor changes his career, he is not free to disregard his pre-existng duty to provide support. See, Deegan v. Deegan, 254 N.J. 350 (App. Div. 1992). Â The court also held that an alimony payor who is seeking a reduction based on a reduction of pay because of a career change, must prove that he is working at a capacity that is consistent with his skills and experience. The court held that Mr. Storey did not prove that his career choice was reasonable.
In analysis, there is no easy way out to terminate alimony or to reduce it. An alimony payor is not free to change careers on a whim, and then rush to the family court and tile a motion for an alimony reduction. If you review the case law, it appears that the family courts will only seriously consider an alimony reduction motion based on loss of income from a career change if there is a sense of desperation or compelling circumstances. Â For instance, if you are highly paid executive, and if you decide that you want to become a teacher, then you would have to prove to the court that the stress of corporate life is damaging your health. If you a lawyer, and if you want to go into social work, likewise you would have to provide proof to the court that practicing law is damaging to your health. If you want to change careers then you must have a compelling reason(s), and hard proof to court to justify your decision. Some industries are dying. In your situation, it is commonly known that the computer tech jobs are being given to Green Card holders who can do the same job for half the price. Moreover, much of this work is being shipped overseas. If you can provide proof to the court that your job may be phased out, then the family court may buy your plan to be re-trained in the nursing profession.
37. I have just lost my job and I simply can’t keep up with my alimony payments. What are some good tips to enable me to try to reduce my alimony?
If you listen to the news, then you are constantly hearing about how the banks are failing, the stock market has crashed, people have lost one half of their retirement savings, and how the auto industry is dying. However, unfortunately you don’t hear all that often as to how the economic meltdown is wreaking havoc on many New Jersey families. In this day and age a new harsh reality is lurking all throughout the Garden State; many people are unable to keep up with their child support and alimony payments no matter how hard they try. As the economic meltdown show no sign of stopping, many newly unemployed divorcees simply can’t find work to enable them to pay for their alimony and child support payments.
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