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divorce suit or after final judgment. See N.J. Stat. Ann. sec.
2A:34-23 (West 1987) (amended 1998). The obligation to pay
alimony ends at the recipient's death, see Jacobson v. Jacobson,
370 A.2d 65 (N.J. Super. Ct. Ch. Div. 1976); Sutphen v. Sutphen,
142 A. 817 (N.J. Ch. 1928), overruled in part by Williams v.
Williams, 281 A.2d 273 (N.J. 1971), while the obligation to pay
child support survives the death of either spouse, see Kiken v.
Kiken, 694 A.2d 557, 561-562 (N.J. 1997); Jacobson v. Jacobson,
supra. Moreover, a parent's duty to support a child terminates
when the child is emancipated. See Bowens v. Bowens, 668 A.2d
90, 92 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1995); Mahoney v. Pennell, 667
A.2d 1119, 1121–1122 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1995); Thorson v.
Thorson, 574 A.2d 53, 54 (N.J. Super. Ct. Ch. Div. 1989).
Under the New Jersey Rules of Court, courts are required to
"separate the amounts awarded for alimony or maintenance and the
amounts awarded for child support, unless for good cause shown
the court determines that the amounts should be unallocated."
N.J. Ct. R. 5:7-4(a). Thus, while courts are encouraged to make
specific allocations of support, they are authorized to award
combined spousal and child support. Although New Jersey statutes
do not say whether unallocated support payments terminate on the
death of the payee spouse, a New Jersey case helps reveal the
unlikelihood of that result’s occurring.
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