‘Big Win for Clarity’: NJ Supreme Court Sets Rules for Prima Facie Showing in Alimony Termination

By: Colleen Murphy

Earlier this year, Carolyn Daly, chair of our Family Law group, argued amicus curiae for the New Jersey chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers before the New Jersey Supreme Court in the matter of Cardali v. Cardali. The Supreme Court just released its decision that a party seeking to terminate alimony does not need to satisfy all the cohabitation factors. Carolyn commented on the decision in the New Jersey Law Journal, stating “In a big win for clarity, the New Jersey Supreme Court decision in Cardali finally sets a clear standard to be met by someone paying alimony who files a motion seeking to suspend or terminate their obligation.” Carolyn continued, “The decision confirms that a payor does not have to show evidence on all of the cohabitation factors a court will consider when deciding to suspend or terminate alimony.”

In a ruling that is being lauded by family law practitioners around the state, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that, to make a prima facie showing of cohabitation, a party seeking to terminate alimony does not need to satisfy all the cohabitation factors in either Konzelman v. Konzelman or the state alimony statute.

In the underlying case, Suzanne and Michael Cardali entered into a property settlement agreement in 2006 which provided that he would pay her alimony until she “cohabitated” as defined by New Jersey law, according to the opinion. In December 2020, Michael Cardali filed a motion to terminate alimony and stated that he believed that Suzanne Cardali had been in a relationship that was tantamount to marriage for the last eight years. He also submitted a private investigator’s report that showed Suzanne Cardali and the man she is in a relationship with were together for all 44 days of the surveillance and that for more than half those days, they were together overnight, among other things.