Sponsored by:
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Senator GERALD CARDINALE
District 39 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits the enforcement of "palimony" agreements unless such agreements are in writing.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning palimony and amending R.S.25:1-5.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.25:1-5 is amended to read as follows:
25:1-5. Promises or agreements not binding unless in writing. No action shall be brought upon any of the following agreements or promises, unless the agreement or promise, upon which such action shall be brought or some memorandum or note thereof, shall be in writing, and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by some other person thereunto by him lawfully authorized:
a. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1995, c.360.)
b. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1995, c.360.)
c. An agreement made upon consideration of marriage entered into prior to the effective date of the "Uniform Premarital Agreement Act," P.L.1988, c.99 (C.37:2-31 et seq.);
d. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1995, c.360.)
e. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1995, c.360.)
f. A contract, promise, undertaking or commitment to loan money or to grant, extend or renew credit, in an amount greater than $100,000, not primarily for personal, family or household purposes, made by a person engaged in the business of lending or arranging for the lending of money or extending credit. For the purposes of this subsection, a contract, promise, undertaking or commitment to loan money shall include agreements to lease personal property if the lease is primarily a method of financing the obtaining of the property; [or]
g. An agreement by a creditor to forbear from exercising remedies pursuant to a contract, promise, undertaking or commitment which is subject to the provisions of subsection f. of this section; or
h. A promise by one party to a non-marital personal relationship to provide support for the other party, either during the course of such relationship or after its termination.
(cf: P.L.1995, c.360, s.8)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
In two recent cases Devaney
v. L’Esperance, (A-20-2007) (Decided June 17, 2008) and In re Estate of Roccamonte, 174 N.J. 381 (2002) the New Jersey Supreme Court has
upheld palimony
agreements between two unmarried cohabitants. In the Devaney case the
Court held that “cohabitation is not an essential requirement, for a cause of
action for palimony, but a marital-type relationship is required.” Id.
at 2. In the Roccamonte case, the court held that an implied promise of
support for life is enforceable against the promisor’s (cohabitant) estate. In
re Estate of Roccamonte, 174 N.J. 381, 395 (2002). These decisions are
consistent with the court's prior decision in Kozlowski v. Kozlowski,
80 N.J. 378 (1979), which had held that a promise of lifetime support by one
cohabitant to another in a marital-like relationship would be enforced, if one
of the partners was induced to cohabit by the promise. The court held that the
right to such support is found in contract principles and that the contract may
be either express or implied.
This bill is intended to overturn these "palimony" decisions by requiring that any such contract must be in writing and signed by the person making the promise.
More specifically, the bill provides that a promise by one party to a non-marital personal relationship to provide support for the other party, either during the course of such relationship or after its termination, is not binding unless it is in writing and signed.