There is a plethora of case law in the area of post judgment termination of alimony. Since time is limited, I can only comment broadly on the topic and outline some of the more important cases.

The most often cited case for the post judgment termination of alimony is Lepis v. Lepis, 83 N.J. 139 (1980). The Lepis court held that when changed circumstances substantially impair the dependent spouses ability to maintain the standard of living set forth in the judgment of divorce, a modification of the support order might be necessary. Id. at 153

Lepis requires that a party seeking the modification of a support order make a prima facie showing that changed circumstances have impaired the dependent spouse's ability to maintain the standard of living set forth in the divorce judgment.

To determine if changed circumstances exist the court considers:

In the case of a dependent spouse seeking an increase, she must make an initial showing of changed circumstances before the moving party's ability to pay becomes an issue. If she is successful discovery should be ordered and possibly a plenary hearing.

Some specific examples set forth in Lepis as circumstances that may warrant a modification of alimony include:

Up until recently, the focus in a modification of spousal support case was the standard of living set forth in the judgment of divorce. The case of Crews v. Crews, 164 N.J. 11 (2000) has changed that focus and opened the door for new applications for post judgment modification of spousal support cases. The new focus, according to the Supreme Court of the United States should be on the marital standard of living.

As a result of the decision in Crews, the trial judge in either a contested or uncontested divorce case, must make specific findings as to the standard of living enjoyed by the parties during the marriage. The court must also determine whether the parties will be able to maintain that standard post divorce, either with or without spousal support.