Residency Requirements

In general, in order to get a divorce in New Jersey, either party to the divorce must have been a resident of the state for at least one full year before the commencement of the action.

Grounds for Divorce

Grounds for divorce in New Jersey are:

a) Adultery;
b) Willful and continued desertion for the term of 12 or more months, which may be established by satisfactory proof that the parties have ceased to cohabit as man and wife;
c) Extreme cruelty, which is defined as including any physical or mental cruelty which endangers the safety or health of the plaintiff or makes it improper or unreasonable to expect the plaintiff to continue to cohabit with the defendant; provided that no complaint for divorce shall be filed until after 3 months from the date of the last act of cruelty complained of in the complaint, but this provision shall not be held to apply to any counterclaim;
d) Separation, provided that the husband and wife have lived separate and apart in different habitations for a period of at least 18 or more consecutive months and there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation; provided, further that after the 18-month period there shall be a presumption that there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation;
e) Voluntarily induced addiction or habituation to any narcotic drug or habitual drunkenness for a period of 12 or more consecutive months subsequent to marriage and next preceding the filing of the complaint;
f) Institutionalization for mental illness for a period of 24 or more consecutive months subsequent to marriage and next preceding the filing of the complaint;
g) Imprisonment of the defendant for 18 or more consecutive months after marriage, provided that where the action is not commenced until after the defendant’s release, the parties have not resumed cohabitation following such imprisonment;
h) Deviant sexual conduct voluntarily performed by the defendant without the consent of the plaintiff;
i) Irreconcilable differences which have caused the breakdown of the marriage for a period of six months and which make it appear that the marriage should be dissolved and that there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.

Division of Property

In making an equitable distribution of property in New Jersey, the court shall consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:

a) The duration of the marriage or civil union;
b) The age and physical and emotional health of the parties;
c) The income or property brought to the marriage or civil union by each party;
d) The standard of living established during the marriage or civil union;
e) Any written agreement made by the parties before or during the marriage or civil union concerning an arrangement of property distribution;
f) The economic circumstances of each party at the time the division of property becomes effective;
g) The income and earning capacity of each party, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, length of absence from the job market, custodial responsibilities for children, and the time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party to become self-supporting at a standard of living reasonably comparable to that enjoyed during the marriage or civil union;
h) The contribution by each party to the education, training or earning power of the other;
i) The contribution of each party to the acquisition, dissipation, preservation, depreciation or appreciation in the amount or value of the marital property, or the property acquired during the civil union as well as the contribution of a party as a homemaker;
j) The tax consequences of the proposed distribution to each party;
k) The present value of the property;
l) The need of a parent who has physical custody of a child to own or occupy the marital residence or residence shared by the partners in a civil union couple and to use or own the household effects;
m) The debts and liabilities of the parties;
n) The need for creation, now or in the future, of a trust fund to secure reasonably foreseeable medical or educational costs for a spouse, partner in a civil union couple or children;
o) The extent to which a party deferred achieving their career goals; and
p) Any other factors which the court may deem relevant.

Spousal Support

In all actions brought for divorce, the court may award one or more of the following types of alimony: permanent alimony; rehabilitative alimony; limited duration alimony or reimbursement alimony to either party. In so doing the court shall consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:

a) The actual need and ability of the parties to pay;
b) The duration of the marriage;
c) The age, physical and emotional health of the parties;
d) The standard of living established in the marriage and the likelihood that each party can maintain a reasonably comparable standard of living;
e) The earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills, and employability of the parties;
f) The length of absence from the job market of the party seeking maintenance;
g) The parental responsibilities for the children;
h) The time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment, the availability of the training and employment, and the opportunity for future acquisitions of capital assets and income;
i) The history of the financial or non-financial contributions to the marriage by each party including contributions to the care and education of the children and interruption of personal careers or educational opportunities;
j) The equitable distribution of property ordered and any payouts on equitable distribution, directly or indirectly, out of current income, to the extent this consideration is reasonable, just and fair;
k) The income available to either party through investment of any assets held by that party;
l) The tax treatment and consequences to both parties of any alimony award, including the designation of all or a portion of the payment as a non-taxable payment; and
m) Any other factors which the court may deem relevant. When a share of a retirement benefit is treated as an asset for purposes of equitable distribution, the court shall not consider income generated thereafter by that share for purposes of determining alimony. Alimony ends upon remarriage or death.

Child Custody

In making an award of custody in New Jersey, the court shall consider but not be limited to the following “best interest of the child” factors:

a) the parents’ ability to agree, communicate and cooperate in matters relating to the child;
b) the parents’ willingness to accept custody and any history of unwillingness to allow parenting time not based on substantiated abuse;
c) the interaction and relationship of the child with its parents and siblings;
d) the history of domestic violence, if any;
e) the safety of the child and the safety of either parent from physical abuse by the other parent;
f) the preference of the child when of sufficient age and capacity to reason so as to form an intelligent decision;
g) the needs of the child;
h) the stability of the home environment offered;
i) the quality and continuity of the child’s education;
j) the fitness of the parents; the geographical proximity of the parents’ homes;
k) the extent and quality of the time spent with the child prior to or subsequent to the separation;
l) the parents’ employment responsibilities; and
m) the age and number of the children.

Child Support

In determining the amount to be paid by a parent for child support and the period during which the duty of support is owed, the court shall consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:

a) Needs of the child;
b) Standard of living and economic circumstances of each parent;
c) All sources of income and assets of each parent;
d) Earning ability of each parent, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, custodial responsibility for children including the cost of providing child care and the length of time and cost of each parent to obtain training or experience for appropriate employment;
e) Need and capacity of the child for education, including higher education;
f) Age and health of the child and each parent;
g) Income, assets and earning ability of the child;
h) Responsibility of the parents for the court-ordered support of others;
i) Reasonable debts and liabilities of each child and parent; and
j) Any other factors the court may deem relevant.

Sources

http://law.onecle.com/new-jersey/2a-administration-of-civil-and-criminal-justice/ (New Jersey divorce statutes)