New Jersey

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 75 out of 100

New Jersey judges divide marital property and set the amount of alimony by weighing factors, with no equal-split starting point. Alimony for marriages under 20 years is capped at the length of the marriage except in exceptional circumstances, and marital fault counts only when egregious or economically harmful. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” New Jersey ranks 25 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	15 / 20	The court makes an equitable distribution of marital property after weighing statutory factors, with no presumption of equal shares, and property one spouse acquired by gift, devise or inheritance from a third party is excluded. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23.1; N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(h)
Alimony	15 / 20	The amount of alimony is set by weighing the statutory factors in subsection (b), and for marriages or civil unions of less than 20 years the total duration of alimony may not exceed the length of the marriage except in exceptional circumstances. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b), (c), as amended by P.L. 2014, c. 42
Fault	5 / 20	The New Jersey Supreme Court held that marital fault is irrelevant to equitable distribution and to counsel fees, and irrelevant to alimony except where the fault affected the parties’ economic life or is so egregious that continuing the economic bond would offend simple justice. Mani v. Mani, 183 N.J. 70, 869 A.2d 904 (2005); N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 (court may consider proofs establishing the ground for divorce in setting alimony)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	The court may order one party to pay the other’s legal and expert fees when the parties’ respective financial circumstances make the award reasonable and just, after reviewing each party’s financial capacity, good or bad faith, and the court-rule factors. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 (counsel-fee paragraph); R. 5:3-5(c)
Second opinion	20 / 20	A party may seek a judge’s disqualification only by a motion stating reasons, and property division and alimony are decided by the Family Part judge without a jury. R. 1:12-2 (not yet checked against the source)

Getting in

A 3-day wait. Both applicants appear before the licensing officer where either lives, with a witness of legal age to verify their oath. If neither lives in New Jersey, they apply where the wedding will occur. The license issues no sooner than 72 hours after application; the Superior Court may waive that wait in an emergency. It lasts 30 days. The fee is $28.
N.J.S.A. 37:1-3, 37:1-4, 37:1-8, 37:1-12, 37:1-12.1

Who can marry you. Judges, surrogates, county and municipal clerks, mayors and some other local officials, clergy of any religion, and civil celebrants certified by the Secretary of State may officiate, before at least two witnesses. A couple can marry without an individual officiant only before a religious society, under its own rules and customs. The statute does not address online ordination.
N.J.S.A. 37:1-13, as amended by P.L.2025, c.222; N.J.S.A. 37:1-2, 37:1-17

Common-law marriage: Closed to new couples. A marriage contracted on or after December 1, 1939 is void without a license and a ceremony by an authorized officiant. Common-law marriages from before that date remain valid. A 1957 appellate decision says one from another state must have been recognized there, and suggests New Jersey residents cannot go elsewhere to form one.
N.J.S.A. 37:1-10; Winn v. Wiggins, 47 N.J. Super. 215 (App. Div. 1957)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

New Jersey is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Property either spouse acquires during the marriage is divided equitably. Property owned before marriage and gifts or inheritances from others are excluded, but gifts between spouses are divisible. The marital period generally ends when a divorce complaint is filed. Growth of excluded property stays excluded unless the other spouse’s money or efforts contributed to it.
N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(h); Portner v. Portner, 93 N.J. 215 (1983); Valentino v. Valentino, 309 N.J. Super. 334 (App. Div. 1998)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

It depends on what the owner meant. A gift or inheritance from a third party is exempt, and the spouse claiming the exemption has the burden of proof. A joint-account deposit makes it divisible only if it was a gift to the other spouse, which takes unequivocal intent. An appellate court held an 18-day deposit was not enough. A trial court treated funds commingled in joint accounts as marital.
Dotsko v. Dotsko, 244 N.J. Super. 668 (App. Div. 1990); N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(h); Ryan v. Ryan, 283 N.J. Super. 21 (Ch. Div. 1993)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

The spouse who got the care pays first. Each spouse is liable for the other’s necessary expenses, but a creditor must first collect from the income and property of the spouse who incurred the debt and may reach the other spouse only if those resources are insufficient.
Jersey Shore Medical Center-Fitkin Hospital v. Estate of Baum, 84 N.J. 137 (1980)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

The surviving spouse may elect one-third of the augmented estate, which reaches certain non-probate transfers; there is no election if either spouse had filed a complaint for divorce or dissolution that had not been dismissed.
N.J.S.A. 3B:8-1 (as amended by P.L.2023, c.238, approved and effective Jan. 8, 2024)

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under UPAA (1983), as amended 2013. A premarital agreement is unenforceable only if the challenger proves by clear and convincing evidence that it was signed involuntarily, or that it was unconscionable when signed because the challenger lacked full and fair disclosure, did not waive disclosure in writing, lacked adequate knowledge, or neither consulted independent counsel nor waived counsel in writing. The 2013 amendment deleted the former test of unconscionability at the time enforcement is sought. Mid-marriage (postnuptial) agreements fall outside the Act; they are enforceable but closely scrutinized and must be fair and equitable.
N.J.S.A. 37:2-38 (P.L.2013, c.72); Pacelli v. Pacelli, 319 N.J. Super. 185 (App. Div. 1999)

What an agreement needs. The agreement must be in writing, signed by both parties, with a statement of assets annexed; the statute requires no notarization, witnesses or waiting period. An agreement can be set aside if a party lacked full and fair disclosure without a written waiver, or neither consulted independent counsel nor waived counsel in writing; the agreement may modify or eliminate spousal support, and the statute has no public-assistance override.
N.J.S.A. 37:2-33, 37:2-34(d), 37:2-38(c)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. The court rule’s guidelines use an income shares approach. Support ends by law at 19 unless a court order sets a later date or a parent gets an extension, for example for high school or full-time college, and generally ends by 23. A judge may require financially capable parents to contribute to a qualified child’s college education.
N.J. Ct. R. App. IX-A (amended eff. June 1, 2025); N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.67; Newburgh v. Arrigo, 88 N.J. 529 (1982)

Moving away with a child. If a child was born in New Jersey or has lived there five years, a parent needs the other parent’s consent or a court order, on cause shown, to remove the child from the state. A child of suitable age must also consent unless the court orders otherwise. Since 2017 the judge decides cause by the child’s best interests. The statute sets no notice period.
N.J.S.A. 9:2-2; Bisbing v. Bisbing, 230 N.J. 309 (2017)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: one year. One spouse must have been a good-faith New Jersey resident for the full year before filing, on every ground except adultery. For adultery there is no one-year minimum, but a spouse must have been a resident when the cause arose and remained one. Where the couple married does not matter.
N.J.S.A. 2A:34-10

How long it takes. A spouse can obtain a divorce over objection for irreconcilable differences that have lasted six months, with no prospect of reconciliation. If the grounds are contested, the judge must find those facts; divorce is not available on mere request. No separation is needed, and no statute sets a wait after filing. The separate living-apart ground takes 18 months.
N.J.S.A. 2A:34-2(d), (i); Steiner v. Steiner, No. A-2440-20 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 15, 2021) (approved for publication Jan. 12, 2022)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 365 days from arrival to a final decree (365 days of residence; six-month breakdown runs during it). Courts often take longer.

If you moved here from another state

A prenup can keep the law of the state where it was signed. In 1986 a New Jersey trial court applied California law to a prenup signed in California that named California law, and it said an agreement silent on the point follows the law of the place of contracting. The agreement wouldn’t have met New Jersey’s disclosure standard. Binding arbitration was a second ground for the result.
DeLorean v. DeLorean, 211 N.J. Super. 432 (Ch. Div. 1986)

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in New Jersey and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a New Jersey lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in New Jersey” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.