22-Year Marriage Divorce — Open Durational Alimony Secured

FAMILY LAW · SONG LAW FIRM SUCCESS STORY

Family · Divorce · Alimony · Open Durational · N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b), 2A:34-23(f)

Client Profile

Client C, a Korean-American woman in her 50s, resides in New Jersey and maintained a 22-year marriage. After coming to the United States early in the marriage, she supported her husband's business while raising three children, and after the 15th year of marriage, she continued to focus on child-rearing and household management, resulting in an interrupted career from regular employment.

Korean is her native language, and she can communicate in English for daily life. The husband operated a stable business in New Jersey and maintained substantial income.

Case Background

At the point when the husband announced the divorce, Client C had no regular income, and there was no separate recognition of her substantive contribution to her husband's business during the marriage (household management, child-rearing, entertaining visitors from headquarters, etc.). The husband's side initially attempted to conclude with 5 years of Limited Duration Alimony and a small settlement.

Client C, considering the long-term interruption of her regular employment career, her age, health status, and the burden of her children's college tuition, determined that 5 years of alimony would be insufficient to maintain the standard of living established during the marriage, and requested consultation with Song Law Firm.

Legal Issues · NJ Statutes and Case Law

Since the length of the marriage was 22 years, exceeding 20 years, it became eligible for Open Durational Alimony consideration.

N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(f) — In cases where the marriage exceeds 20 years, the court may recognize Open Durational Alimony. Limited Duration Alimony applies in principle to under-20-year cases.

N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b) — The 14 factors the court must consider when calculating alimony (length of marriage, actual need and ability to pay of each spouse, marital standard of living, earning potential, equitable distribution results, contributions to children and household during marriage, etc.).

N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j) — Retirement treatment. When the payor spouse reaches statutory retirement age (federal Social Security full retirement age), termination of alimony is the rule, but the recipient spouse may rebut the rebuttable presumption.

Crews v. Crews, 164 N.J. 11 (2000) — Alimony is calculated based on the marital standard of living, which continues to be referenced in alimony modification and revision.

The main issues were (1) clearly calculating that the length of the marriage exceeded 20 years (including treatment of separation and reconciliation periods), (2) proving that Client C's substantive earning potential was not large, and (3) accurately calculating the income from the husband's business.

Song Law Firm's Strategy

Song Law Firm structured its response strategy along the following four axes.

(1) Confirming the length of the marriage — By comprehensively using the marriage certificate, separation history, and reconciliation attempt records, we clearly proved the 22-year marriage. Once exceeding 20 years is confirmed, Open Durational Alimony review is automatically opened.

(2) Proving the marital standard of living — We organized marital lifestyle data from the past 5 years including credit card statements, travel history, children's tuition, housing maintenance costs, and social activities. We attempted to quantify the Crews standard.

(3) Evaluating Client C's earning potential — Through vocational expert testimony, we calculated the realistic re-employment possibility and expected income by comprehensively considering age, career interruption, language, and health status. We rebutted the husband's side's claim that "she can be re-employed at any income level."

(4) Reconstructing the husband's business income — We retained a forensic accountant to analyze the business's financial statements, tax filings, personal spending history, and cash flow. We documented the gap between reported income and actual income.

Simultaneously, we proceeded with equitable distribution negotiations (residential real estate, business equity, retirement accounts, Korean assets, etc.) in parallel with alimony negotiations.

Result and Meaning

Through negotiation and mediation stages, we ultimately secured Open Durational Alimony (fixed monthly payment) and reached an equitable distribution agreement. The alimony continues in principle until the husband's retirement, with modification provisions clearly defined for retirement. We also clearly reflected in the detailed language the provisions for children's college tuition burden, health insurance maintenance, and cohabitation reduction to minimize future modification dispute risks.

In equitable distribution as well, the real estate, business equity, and retirement accounts acquired during marriage were equitably divided so that Client C secured future life stability.

Lessons Learned

In cases where the marriage exceeds 20 years, Open Durational Alimony becomes a powerful negotiation card. Even if the husband's side initially attempts to conclude with Limited Duration Alimony, entirely different results can be obtained by accurately proving the length of marriage, standard of living, and earning potential.

Working with an attorney who accurately understands the unique circumstances of Korean immigrant families (supporting a business, focusing on child-rearing, career interruption, existence of Korean assets), you can derive optimal results between the details of U.S. alimony law and Korean cultural context. In particular, the language of retirement, cohabitation, and remarriage provisions actually affects for years after divorce, so it must be handled precisely at the negotiation stage.