By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Published · Updated
12 consecutive months in New Jersey before filing on no-fault grounds, with irreconcilable differences having existed for 6 months. New Jersey does grant legal separation.
New Jersey divorces run on the state's equitable distribution rules and a distinctive financial disclosure form — understanding both before you file will save you time and stress later.
| Residency requirement | At least one spouse must have lived in New Jersey for 12 consecutive months before filing (no-fault grounds). If the grounds are not no-fault, no minimum durational residency is required as long as one spouse currently lives in NJ. |
|---|---|
| Grounds | No-fault: irreconcilable differences for at least 6 months with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation. Fault-based options include separation for 18+ months, extreme cruelty, adultery, desertion, addiction/institutionalization, or incarceration. |
| Waiting period | 6 months for irreconcilable differences to have existed before filing; 18 months of separation if using that ground. No additional statutory waiting period after filing before a judgment can be entered. |
| Legal separation | New Jersey does grant legal separation. It settles the same questions a divorce settles — support, parenting and, depending on the case, property — but leaves the marriage in place, so neither spouse can remarry without a divorce. |
| If you were never married | New Jersey does not create common-law marriage, and living together gives neither partner property or support rights. Claims rest on agreements between you. A common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them is generally still recognised. |
| Where you file | The Family Division of the Superior Court in the New Jersey county where you lived when you separated — not where you last lived together as a couple (R. 5:7-1). If you no longer live in New Jersey, file in the county where your spouse lives. |
| Filing fee | Payable when you file the initial Complaint for Divorce. Set by regulation and revised from time to time. Filing fees are set by the court and change without notice: check the current schedule on the court's own website before you file, and ask about a fee waiver if the cost is a barrier. |
| Starting forms | Complaint for Divorce, Certification of Verification and Non-Collusion, Summons, Confidential Litigant Information Sheet (CN 10486), Family Part Case Information Statement (CN 10482, if support/alimony is at issue), Certification of Insurance Coverage, and Self-Represented Litigant Certification of Notification of CDR Alternatives (CN 10889). |
| Simplified option | New Jersey doesn't have a separate 'simplified divorce' form track, but a case can proceed as uncontested: the plaintiff marks the Complaint as uncontested, the defendant files a Notice of Appearance (not a full Answer), and both sides sign a notarized Property Settlement Agreement — this moves much faster than a contested case. |
Keeping track of dates like these across a stack of letters is exactly what SortMyDivorce does — start a free trial, no card needed.
New Jersey is an equitable distribution state, not a community property state. That means marital property and debt are divided by what a court considers fair, not automatically split 50/50. Judges generally weigh factors like the length of the marriage, each spouse's income and earning capacity, contributions to the marriage (including as a homemaker), and what each spouse brought in or kept separate. Property owned before the marriage, and gifts or inheritances kept separate, are generally exempt — but only if you can show they were never mixed with marital funds. Tracing that history matters, so it helps to gather the paperwork early.
New Jersey's most commonly used no-fault ground is irreconcilable differences: the marriage has broken down for at least six months, with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation. Unlike some neighboring states, New Jersey does not layer an additional waiting or separation period on top of that six months once the ground is met — you generally do not need to be formally separated first or wait out a further cooling-off period before filing. Fault-based grounds (such as desertion or extreme cruelty) still exist but are rarely used given the simpler no-fault path. Filing generally happens in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, in the county where either spouse lives, and one spouse generally needs to have lived in New Jersey for at least a year before filing (with a narrower exception if the grounds arose in-state). Confirm current residency and filing rules with a local family law attorney or the county courthouse before relying on any of this.
New Jersey family courts require a Case Information Statement, commonly called the CIS, in most divorces involving support, alimony, or property division. It is a detailed sworn snapshot of your finances — income, monthly budget, assets, debts, and (in many cases) a history of significant financial transactions. Because it's sworn and filed with the court, accuracy and completeness matter; both spouses typically exchange one early in the case, and it often becomes the anchor document for every negotiation that follows.
Building your CIS early, even in draft form, gives you a real advantage. It forces you to see your full financial picture before you're under deadline pressure, and it makes it much easier to spot inconsistencies if the other side's numbers don't add up. Courts and mediators lean on the CIS heavily during settlement conferences, so a well-prepared one tends to move a case forward faster than a rushed one filed at the last minute.
Start pulling together what the CIS and equitable distribution analysis will need: recent pay stubs and W-2s or tax returns for the last few years, statements for every bank, retirement, and investment account, mortgage and property tax records, credit card and loan statements, and business records if either spouse is self-employed or owns a company. If you're claiming any asset as separate property — something owned before the marriage, an inheritance, a gift — collect the original documentation and anything showing it was kept apart from marital funds.
Keep copies of every letter and communication from lawyers or the other side from the very start. In a state where the CIS and financial disclosure drive so much of the process, a clear record of who proposed what, and when, tends to matter just as much as the numbers themselves.
New Jersey custody decisions are guided by the best interests of the child standard, and the state does not start from a presumption of any particular custody split — parenting time and decision-making (legal custody) are addressed separately, and detailed, realistic parenting plans generally fare better than vague ones. Child support generally follows the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines, which weigh both parents' incomes and the parenting time schedule. Alimony, where relevant, is assessed under a separate set of statutory factors and is a distinct question from property division — courts generally look at the marriage's length, each spouse's earning capacity, and the standard of living established during the marriage, among other factors.
Legal separation is available in New Jersey. It is a court proceeding, and in most respects it runs like a divorce: the court can settle support, parenting arrangements and, depending on the case, the division of property, and the resulting order binds both spouses.
What it does not do is end the marriage. People choose it for a range of reasons — health coverage, religious conviction, immigration status, or simply not being ready — and it leaves the door open to reconciling without starting over.
Two consequences follow. Neither spouse can remarry unless they later obtain a divorce, and modifying the order generally takes the court's approval rather than a private agreement between you. If you expect to divorce eventually, ask what converting the separation into a divorce involves here before you start.
New Jersey does not create common-law marriage. There is no number of years of living together that turns into a marriage here, and none of the divorce machinery on this page applies to a couple who never married — no property division, no spousal support, no residency requirement to satisfy, because there is nothing to dissolve.
What unmarried partners have instead are ordinary civil claims: whatever you agreed between yourselves, in writing or by clear conduct, and claims over property you actually hold jointly. These are argued like any other contract or property dispute rather than as family-law entitlements, and they turn on what can be proved.
One qualification runs the other way and matters. A common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them — Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas or Utah — is generally recognised elsewhere. A couple who met that state's test while living there, and later moved here, are married, and separating means divorcing. Children are unaffected either way: custody and child support are decided on the same basis whether or not the parents married.
1) Start a rough draft of your Case Information Statement now, even before anything is filed — it will surface gaps in your records while there's still time to fill them. 2) Separate your document gathering into marital versus separate property, and start tracing anything you believe should count as separate. 3) Get at least one consultation with a New Jersey family law attorney to confirm current residency, grounds, and filing county for your situation. 4) If children are involved, sketch a realistic parenting time proposal early rather than waiting for a court deadline. 5) Save every letter, email, and notice tied to the case in one place, with dates — New Jersey's disclosure-heavy process rewards people who can produce their financial and correspondence history quickly.
Make sure at least one spouse has lived in New Jersey for 12 consecutive months if you're using the no-fault ground of irreconcilable differences, and be ready to state a legal ground — most people use irreconcilable differences (6+ months) rather than fault-based grounds.
Complete the Complaint for Divorce along with the Certification of Verification and Non-Collusion, Confidential Litigant Information Sheet (CN 10486), and Certification of Insurance Coverage. Free forms and instructions are available through the NJ Courts Self-Help Center.
File in the Family Division of the Superior Court for the county where you and your spouse last lived together, or in your spouse's county if you've since moved out of state. You can file electronically through the Judiciary Electronic Document Submission (JEDS) system or bring copies in person.
The plaintiff's filing fee is set by the court (plus a separate parenting workshop fee if you have minor children) — confirm the current fee with the clerk. Fee waivers are available if you can't afford it.
Your spouse must be formally served with the Summons and filed Complaint, typically by personal service or certified mail, and proof of service must be filed with the court.
The other spouse has 35 days from service to respond by filing an Answer, an Answer and Counterclaim, or (if uncontested) a Notice of Appearance, along with the filing fee.
If support, alimony, or property division is contested, both spouses typically complete a Family Part Case Information Statement (CN 10482) and may go through mediation, an Early Settlement Panel, or case management conferences before trial.
If you agree on all issues, sign a notarized Property Settlement Agreement covering custody, support, alimony, and property/debt division, then request an uncontested final hearing. If issues remain disputed, the case proceeds toward a trial before a Family Part judge.
Once the judge approves your settlement or issues a ruling after trial, the court enters a Final Judgment of Divorce, which legally ends the marriage.
No. New Jersey uses equitable distribution, where marital property is divided based on fairness factors rather than an automatic even split. Confirm how this applies to your assets with a local family lawyer.
Under the irreconcilable differences ground, the marriage generally must have been broken down for at least six months with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation. New Jersey generally does not require a further separate waiting period beyond that once this ground is met, but confirm current requirements with a local court or attorney.
It's a sworn financial disclosure form used in most New Jersey divorce cases involving support or property division, covering income, expenses, assets, and debts. It typically becomes a central document in negotiations, so accuracy matters.
A legal separation in New Jersey settles much of what a divorce settles — support, parenting and, depending on the case, property — and the order binds both spouses. The difference is that it does not end the marriage, so neither spouse can remarry without later obtaining a divorce. People use it for health coverage, religious reasons, immigration status, or because they are not ready to divorce. Changing the order generally requires the court's approval.
No. New Jersey does not create common-law marriage, and living together for any length of time gives neither partner property division nor spousal support. Unmarried partners rely instead on agreements between themselves and on claims over jointly held property, argued as ordinary civil matters. One important exception: a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them — such as Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas or Utah — is generally recognised here, so that couple would need a divorce. Custody and child support apply regardless of marriage.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For support with domestic violence, contact New Jersey's 24/7 statewide hotline at 1-800-572-7233. Nationally you can also reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 if a call is not safe. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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