FLEMINGTON - A long awaited decision in an alimony dispute that drew state-wide attention was handed down today by the Appellate Division of the State Superior Court.

The court affirmed the award of permanent alimony but ordered that the amount of that alimony be reevaluated.

John Waldorf, a former Lebanon Township man that spent several weeks in jail for failing to make payments, appealed his alimony judgement.

Waldorf was ordered to pay $2,000 a week in alimony beginning Jan. 1, 2012. That amounted to $104,000 a year. He was ordered to pay an additional $3,300 in child support per year for his then 16-year-old son. The numbers were derived from the income Waldorf was earning before the divorce.

The divorce process was a long and bitter one, with the judge faulting both parties for difficulties, according to court transcripts. During proceedings the judge said Lisa Waldorf wrongfully accused her ex-husband of hiding assets while John Waldorf was less than cooperative about sharing information about debts, violated several court orders and missed several deadlines. The judge also said John Waldorf was "willfully underemployed" for not seeking a better paying job so he could pay the ordered alimony. The judge said he was merely trying to avoid paying the support.

Lisa Waldorf later said in an interview that keeping him in jail "doesn't help me at all," at least in the short run, but that he had not even made an offer to pay a part of what he owes.

In December, 2012 the state Supreme Court ordered that John Waldorf be released from the Hunterdon County Jail, with conditions.

Waldorf spent a little more than eight weeks in the county jail on a "non-support" charge. Judge Hany Mawla had most recently denied his request for release at a family court hearing on Dec. 14, 2012.

On Monday, attorney William A. Riback pleaded Waldorf's case before the State Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner signed an order that said Waldorf must pay at least $1,000 a week. He was given 30 days to get a new job if he couldn't return to the company he was working for when he was jailed.

Also under the order, the Appellate Division of the State Superior Court was to accelerate Waldorf's appeal regarding his alimony.

The appellate judges noted that John Waldorf's lack of cooperation prolonged the process and that he was "the architect of this flawed alimony award." Still, they agreed that the amount of the award did not realistically consider his own expenses.

The appellate judges also affirmed the award of attorneys fee to Lisa Waldorf.