For many soon-to-be retirees, retirement is a long-awaited opportunity to travel, reconnect with family and friends, or finally explore the hobbies that took a backseat during busy working years.
It’s a new chapter and, for many, the hope is to have fewer responsibilities. But some responsibilities don’t automatically retire when you do. If you’re paying spousal support, you may be asking yourself what this means for your alimony obligations.
Retirement can open the door to modifying or ending alimony, but it’s not automatic. What happens depends largely on the specific language in your divorce agreement and when your divorce was finalized.
New Jersey’s 2014 alimony reform and “permanent” alimony: what changed
Before 2014, retirement wasn’t automatically a reason to modify or end alimony. Payors had to show their financial situation had changed significantly, which was a high bar to meet. At the same time, traditional pensions were disappearing, people were working longer, and gig work was becoming more common. Someone paying “permanent alimony” might need to work until 70 to secure their own retirement, with no clear path to ending their support obligation.
New Jersey’s 2014 alimony reforms addressed this disconnect. The law replaced “permanent alimony” with open durational alimony for marriages lasting 20 years or longer. More importantly for retirement planning, it created a new rebuttable presumption: alimony would end when the payor reaches full retirement age, as defined by the Social Security Administration.
These reforms apply to alimony orders entered after September 10, 2014. For those cases, as noted above, the presumption can be challenged, but instead of payors needing to prove they deserved relief, recipients now need to prove support should continue past retirement age.
Note that divorcing parties can still agree to different terms, e.g. you might choose to continue alimony until the recipient retires, or for the payor’s lifetime. Those terms need to be clearly established in your settlement agreement.
Voynick v. Voynick and pre-2014 cases
If your divorce predates the 2014 reforms, there are additional considerations at work. The specific language in your Marital Settlement Agreement determines which standards apply: your original agreement terms or the current statutes or a combination of both.
For MSAs that are governed by statutes rather than agreement, you’ll first need to show you’ve reached a “good faith retirement age” (e.g., your retirement timing is reasonable for your profession). Once that’s been determined, the court moves to evaluate whether circumstances have changed enough to warrant modifying or ending support.
A recent March 2025 appellate decision has impacted these modification requests. In Voynick v. Voynick, Brian and Diane divorced in 2003 after 24 years of marriage, with Diane receiving $120,000 annually in permanent alimony. When Brian retired at 66 and asked the court to end his support obligation, the trial court denied his request.
However, the appellate court reversed that decision.
They held that courts should also look at the recipient’s financial picture—whether they saved adequately for retirement or had the opportunity to do so. This expands how pre-2014 cases can establish changed circumstances: it factors in the payor’s decreased income, but also the recipient’s financial preparedness.
In this situation, Diane had retirement accounts totaling $1.6 million, home equity of $1.46 million, inherited funds, and other substantial assets. The court found these facts created genuine questions about whether she still needed $120,000 annually. As a result, a full hearing was necessary to resolve the matter.
What does this mean for you? If you’re paying alimony and approaching retirement, the analysis isn’t just “can I still afford this?” It’s also “does my former spouse genuinely need this support to maintain a reasonable standard of living?”
What courts consider when requesting to end alimony
If you’ve reached retirement age, what happens next depends significantly on the language in your settlement agreement. Some examples of ways an Agreement can read and a court may interpret it are as follows:
- If your agreement specifically addresses retirement (for example, stating that alimony terminates when you reach full retirement age), that language controls.
- If your agreement references “law in effect at time of modification,” the court may apply current standards when evaluating your request.
- If your agreement is silent on retirement, you’ll need to file a motion asking the court to review your alimony arrangement.
If filing a motion is your next step, courts will examine the context around your retirement and both parties’ financial circumstances. The timing is important, particularly in determining whether your retirement made at an age consistent with your profession. .
The recipient’s financial situation is equally important. Courts look at whether your former spouse has access to other income sources, retirement accounts, or assets. The question isn’t just whether your income changed, but whether both parties planned appropriately for this stage of life and whether the recipient can maintain reasonable self-sufficiency.
How duration affects alimony payments after retirement
The 2014 reforms introduced a general framework: for marriages under 20 years, alimony shouldn’t last longer than the marriage itself, except in exceptional circumstances, as per N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(c). Judges still have authority to adjust duration based on the facts of the case, as laid out in the alimony statute.
Timing matters when requesting changes to alimony
Retirement comes with a long list of planning tasks, like reviewing pension benefits, coordinating Social Security, and mapping out your long-term finances. If you’re paying alimony, it’s just as important to plan for how retirement may affect your support obligations.
You don’t need to wait until after you retire to take action. Courts allow advance filing for prospective retirement. In Mueller v. Mueller, the court suggested that filing 12 to 18 months ahead of planned retirement provides enough certainty for the court to evaluate the request without requiring excessive speculation about future circumstances.
To support that request, you’ll need to pull together detailed financial documentation. This includes your information about:
- Income
- Assets
- Retirement accounts
- Monthly expenses
If your former spouse opposes termination and argues that support should continue, they’ll need to provide the same documentation.
These disclosures give the court the complete financial picture it needs to decide whether support should continue.
Planning ahead: why legal guidance matters
Whether your divorce was finalized before or after the 2014 reforms, retirement can open the door to modifying or ending spousal support, but it’s not automatic.
The language of your agreement can make or break an application for or against termination of alimony based on retirement. Courts are still obligated to examine the full context, including timing, financial need, and how well each party has planned for this stage of life.
At Jacobs Berger, we help clients evaluate their options, build strong cases, and take proactive steps to align support obligations with current realities. Contact our team to coordinate your strategy planning session.
