Firefighters, police officers, correctional officers, surgeons and others in physically demanding careers often retire well before the traditional retirement age. If you pay alimony, that raises an important question: can you retire early, and what happens to your alimony if you do?

How Early Retirement Works Under New Jersey Alimony Law

If you pay alimony and want to retire before reaching full retirement age, you can file an application with the court asking to end your alimony, reduce it, or some combination of the two. You carry the burden of showing that your retirement is reasonable and in good faith.

The application can be filed before or at the time you retire. Filing ahead of time is usually the better choice, because it lets you plan your finances with a clearer picture of what your obligation will be.

What the Court Considers

In deciding whether an early retirement is reasonable and in good faith, the court looks at factors such as:

• The age and health of both spouses at the time of the application
• Your field of work, and the generally accepted retirement age in that field
• When you become eligible to retire at your job, including mandatory retirement dates or the point at which working longer no longer increases your pension
• Your reasons for retiring, including pressure from your employer or retirement incentives
• What both spouses reasonably expected about retirement during the marriage and at the time of the divorce
• Your ability to keep paying support after retiring, including whether you will work part-time
• The financial independence of the spouse receiving alimony, and how your retirement would affect them
• Any other relevant factors affecting the decision to retire and each spouse’s finances

Why Early Retirement Is Common in Certain Careers

Early retirement comes up most often in physically demanding and public-safety jobs, including firefighters, police officers, correctional officers and construction workers. These jobs become harder to perform safely in your 50s and 60s, and some protect public health and safety, so the people doing them need to be at their best. Surgeons and other medical professionals may also retire or scale back earlier as dexterity or eyesight changes with age. Many government employees retire once they are fully vested in their pension.

For these workers, requiring them to keep working until the standard retirement age may simply not be realistic, and the court’s factors are designed to take that into account.

How These Issues Have Played Out for Our Clients

Every case turns on its own facts, but our attorneys have seen early retirement handled in a number of ways:

• A fire captain planned to retire at 52, once he had enough years of service for a full pension. Few firefighters remain on the job into their 50s because of the physical demands. We negotiated a settlement under which his alimony ended at his planned retirement age.
• A New Jersey State Trooper felt pressure to retire because younger troopers could not advance until senior officers stepped aside. That culture helped support a reduction, followed by an early end to his alimony, so he could retire.
• A correctional officer planned to retire around age 50, when he was fully vested. Most officers in his position retire as soon as they vest, given the dangers of the job, which supported his plan to retire on his original timeline.
• A surgeon in his 40s, married more than 20 years, expected to be able to operate for only about 15 more years. At the time of his divorce, we negotiated terms that addressed both his current alimony and what would happen once he could no longer operate, and avoided open durational alimony, so he would not have to return to court later.

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

Retiring Does Not Always End Alimony

Some people who retire early take a second job. Depending on what you earn, or could earn, after retirement, what your former spouse earns, and the other factors in New Jersey’s alimony law, alimony may continue after retirement, though usually at a reduced amount. Answering that question requires a careful look at both spouses’ income and budgets.

Common Questions

What happens when I reach full retirement age?

For alimony orders entered after New Jersey’s 2014 alimony reform, reaching full retirement age generally creates a presumption that alimony should end, though the receiving spouse can ask the court to continue it. Older orders and agreements follow different rules. Read more: I Pay Alimony. When Can I Retire?

Can I plan for retirement in my divorce agreement?

Yes. If you know you are likely to retire early, it is often possible to address that in your settlement at the time of the divorce, which can save you from having to go back to court later.

Should I retire first and then ask the court?

It is usually better to apply before you retire. Retiring first and hoping the court agrees can leave you with an alimony obligation and a reduced income at the same time.

Talk With a South Jersey Alimony Attorney

If you pay or receive alimony and retirement is on the horizon, the time to plan is before you file your retirement papers. Learn more about alimony in New Jersey, or call us at 856-428-8334 or send us a message to schedule a confidential consultation.