What is palimony?
Since the early 1970’s, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who live together without getting married. Despite this trend, unmarried couples do not have the same rights and protections as married couples. However, the courts have finally begun to recognize that, in certain situations, an unmarried person may have a right to get financial support from a former partner after their relationship ends. In cases wherein a family court has issued a support order for an unmarried partner, they have found that one partner promised to support the other partner in return for being taken care of while they lived together. In all of reported cases so far, the support has been provided by a male companion to a female companion. The New Jersey courts have treated these family-like situations as if the parties had a contract, not like marriage, where the right to support is based upon a support contract between the partners. Palimony is the term that is used to describe the supp
