Law Lessons from MARY E. JACKSON v. TOWNSHIP OF NEPTUNE, 15 N.J. Tax 498 (TAX COURT OF NEW JERSEY; DOCKET NO. 010542-94; Decided March 27, 1996):

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The N.J. Legislature has established both absolute divorce and divorce from bed and board in New Jersey. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-2 establishes the requirements for a judgment of absolute divorce. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-3 sets out the requirements for a judgment of divorce from bed and board. In Lavino v. Lavino, 23 N.J. 635 (1957), the New Jersey Supreme Court explained that the difference between the two types of divorce was that “[a]bsolute divorce dissolves the marital bond and all dower rights are barred. In [divorce from bed and board] the marital bond subsists….” Id. at 639; Weinkrantz v. Weinkrantz 129 N.J. Super. 28, 32 (App. Div. 1974); Mueller v. Mueller, 95 N.J. Super. 244, 247 (App. Div. 1967) (Divorce from bed and board is not a true divorce since it does not dissolve the bonds of matrimony but merely decrees a judicial separation.). Significantly, in order to remarry after having obtained a judgment of divorce from bed and board, the parties must apply to the court for conversion of the bed and board divorce to an absolute divorce. See N.J.S.A. 2A:34-3; Rudin v. Rudin, 104 N.J. Eq. 524, 525 (Ch. 1929).

The primary purpose for obtaining a divorce from bed and board is to terminate the marital obligations of cohabitation and support. Lavino, supra at 639. Divorce from bed and board is “[t]he closest analogy to a `legal separation’ provided in New Jersey divorce laws….” 1 Gary N. Skoloff & Laurence J. Cutler, New Jersey Family Law Practice § 2.6 at 585 (7th ed. 1994). A married couple might choose to obtain a judgment of divorce from bed and board rather than an absolute divorce for religious reasons. They may no longer wish to live together, but their religious faith may prevent the couple from officially dissolving the bonds of matrimony.

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