When people think of spousal support (alimony), they typically think of a check in the mail that arrives on a regular interval that is meant to help one spouse support their post-divorce lifestyle and offset the financial differences between each spouses' earnings. And while that is the most common type of spousal support, there is another option called "rehabilitative alimony" for as the name suggests, helps the recipient spouse establish a more stable post-divorce lifestyle by offering additional funding for them to return to school, build a career or receive training which can help them become more financially independent.

As New Jersey divorce mediators, it's our job to help couples understand the realities of their post-divorce lifestyle and explain to them that running two households is more expensive than one so each of your post-marital financial situations are going to be lower than your martial situation and that the only way to account for this is to either reduce expense or increase income. As reducing expenses these days seems like a tall order and jobs aren't exactly growing on trees (especially for those parents who have been out of the workforce for a number of years) rehabilitative alimony is perhaps an option they'd wish to consider.

By taking some time to return to school, the spouse who worked inside the home and perhaps raised the children, can receive training which will allow them to compete in today's workforce. Skills one acquired 15 years ago may no longer be relevant in today's workplace and by attending school and having your ex-spouse pay for some of it, the benefits are twofold: