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with the stipulation made by the parties that the orders should
be interpreted under New Jersey law since they were issued by a
New Jersey court.
New Jersey has a support statute authorizing courts to award
alimony or child support, either pending the divorce suit or
after final judgment. N.J. Stat. Ann. sec. 2A:34-23 (West 2003).
Generally, divorce proceedings abate with the death of either
party. Carr v. Carr, 576 A.2d 872, 875 (N.J. 1990). Despite the
general rule that divorce proceedings abate with the death of
either party, “Some New Jersey courts have recognized that in
highly unusual circumstances some aspects of statutory equitable
distribution and related forms of relief may precede a divorce
judgment or survive a spouse’s death before divorce.” Id.
The obligation to pay alimony ends at the recipient’s death.
See Jacobson v. Jacobson, 370 A.2d 65, 66 (N.J. Super. Ct. Ch.
Div. 1976). 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 at 66. Regarding
the death of the custodial parent, New Jersey statutory law
provides:
In case of the death of the parent to whom the
care and custody of the minor children shall have been
awarded by the Superior Court, or in the case of the
death of the parent in whose custody the children
actually are, when the parents have been living
separate and no award as to the custody of such
children has been made, the care and custody of such
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