Yes. Life changes, and sometimes those changes mean alimony needs to be modified or terminated. Just some of those changes include:

• Substantial involuntary decrease to your income
• Failure of a business
• Substantial increase to your ex-spouse’s income
• Significant decrease to your overall total compensation package
• Recent retirement from your profession
• Your ex-spouse has recently remarried
• Major health problem that impairs earning ability or
• Increases in the cost of living

Modifying or terminating alimony can be difficult. The party requesting the change generally has the burden of proving that he or she has experienced a substantial, unforeseeable, and permanent financial change in circumstances necessitating a change in or termination of alimony.

Parents can request a modification any time it is deemed warranted—including for cost-of-living adjustments. The purpose of child support is to help provide for the needs of the child. Those needs include food, shelter, clothing, health care, and education. If those needs change, or if a parent’s financial situation changes, child support may need to be adjusted. However, New Jersey courts take a conservative approach to petitions to modify child support. The courts will only modify support orders if there has been a valid and significant change in circumstances. The one change you may be able to achieve without a hearing is an incremental child support increases based solely on a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).

Generally, modifications for child support are not retroactive. If child support is modified, the modification is effective as of the date the motion for modification was made.

Yes, however, if the child custody arrangement appears to be working for everyone involved, New Jersey courts will not typically alter the custody arrangement. Therefore, the party requesting the modification must show that there has been a substantial change in circumstances. Examples of some qualifying changes can include:

• Major relocation
• Major change in a parent’s vocation or hours
• Major change in a parent’s behavior that may adversely affect the child such as substance abuse
• Domestic violence in a parent’s home
• Dangerous conditions in a parent’s home

In most cases, child custody arrangements can be modified in two ways:

• A consent order—This is the easiest way to modify custody. The consent order is an agreement between both parents, which alters the preexisting arrangement. The consent order ensures that all changes are mutually agreed upon and enforceable.
• Filing a motion—if a consent order is not possible, a modification can be obtained through the New Jersey courts by filing a motion that demonstrates a substantial change in circumstances.