The practice of family law is difficult. I have read that divorce ranks just below the death of a parent or child in terms of grief. The cases are often emotionally charged. This sometimes causes people to take bad positions,...more
Even before the alimony statute was amended in 2014, there was a misconception that permanent alimony was actually permanent and could not be modified under any circumstances. I heard that tired argument many times despite...more
We have written a lot about termination of alimony based upon cohabitation, both before the 2014 Amendment to the alimony statute making it easier, and after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Cardali case. Typically,...more
2/24/2025
/ Alimony ,
Appellate Courts ,
Cardali v Cardali ,
Cohabitation ,
Discovery ,
Divorce ,
Family Law Courts ,
Financial Records ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Marital Assets ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Sanctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Spouses ,
Termination
In November of 2023, I did a post on this blog titled The Intersection of Family Law, Estate Law and Federal Law, regarding the reported Appellate Division case In the Matter of Michael D. Jones, Deceased. That case dealt...more
1/28/2025
/ Beneficiaries ,
Bonds ,
Divorce ,
Equitable Distribution ,
Family Law Courts ,
Marital Assets ,
New Jersey ,
NJ Supreme Court ,
Preemption ,
Probate ,
Probate Courts ,
Surviving Spouse ,
Trusts ,
Wills
Very often, victims or purported victims of domestic violence hear about the concept of the cycle of domestic violence. Also, it is not uncommon for victims of domestic violence not to report acts of domestic violence once or...more
Sadly, it is not uncommon for parties to be “frequent flyers” in domestic violence court. Sometimes, the same party files and dismisses one or more times. Sometimes, parties settle with “civil restraints” or an Order in the...more
Sometimes people do what is called forum shopping and file a law suit in another jurisdiction, if not another country, because they believe that the laws will be more favorable to them. Sometimes they even file someplace else...more
For many divorce attorneys, the busy season starts after the first of the year. Since practically the inception of this blog, I have posted on the phenomenon of the New Year’s Resolution Divorce. For whatever reason, this...more
12/27/2024
/ Alimony ,
Asset Management ,
Child Custody ,
Child Support ,
Divorce ,
Family Law Courts ,
Marital Assets ,
Marriage ,
Personal Property ,
Prenuptial Agreements ,
Spouses
In high income cases, unlike alimony, which can be bigger numbers, child support is usually much less. Moreover, since even in high income/over guidelines cases, you have to start by looking at what the child support...more
The issue of interviewing children in custody cases tends to be somewhat controversial. When I first started practicing, it was essentially mandatory if there was a custody trial. More than 20 years ago, it because something...more
Relocation with children is always a hot button issue. That said, since the Supreme Court decided Bisping in 2017 , relocation got more difficult because it became largely a best interest analysis. Most of the time, these...more
As I have blogged here before, despite it not being the law and not really supported by the social science, many judges and even many custody experts have taken the position that 50-50 custody should be the de facto starting...more
In 2021, I wrote on this blog about a case where a court delayed reunification therapy because a 12 year old child didn’t want to do it. To this day, this continues to be one of the most read posts on our blog, more than...more
Many domestic violence cases, particularly those dealing with allegations of harassment, or borderline cases that may or may not be what is called “domestic contretemps” come down to credibility determinations. Which party is...more
It should come as no surprise that a child’s best interests change over time. That is one of the reasons why, under the law, that custody and parenting time Orders and Agreements are always reviewable and modifiable. However,...more
In the late 1990s when the Child Support Guidelines were drastically changed to account for overnight parenting as well as shared parenting, the terms Parent of Primary Residence (PPR) and Parent of Alternate Residence (PAR)...more
I have blogged several times before , including last week, on cases where trial courts were reversed for failing to hold plenary hearing and provide for discovery, often in FD (non-dissolution) matters. I have also discussed...more
9/3/2024
/ Child Custody ,
Co-Parenting ,
Divorce ,
Family Law Courts ,
Joint Custody ,
Mediation ,
Mental Health ,
Parenting Plans ,
Parenting Time ,
PTSD ,
Reversal
It is quite common in divorce settlements to require payments to be made over time or in the future. Some people, for whatever reason, choose not to immediately go back to court for enforcement when there is non-compliance....more
The Rules of Court clearly allow a Family Part Judge to appoint their own expert on any issues, whether custody or economic issues, in order to aid the court in making a decision on an issue before the Court. The Court rule...more
Typically, in order to modify support or custody/parenting time provisions in an agreement or judgment/order, the party seeking a modification must show a substantial and continuing change of circumstances. Given the goal of...more
It was long believed by many that if a defendant in a domestic violence hearing plead the 5th Amendment (i.e. chose not to testify on the grounds that it might incriminate him/herself), that the court could draw an adverse...more
Many clients believe that if they file for divorce, the road to resolution is litigation and a trial. While naturally, that is the final step if a settlement is not reached, divorce trials are reasonably uncommon in New...more
Since the Child Support Guidelines were amended in the late 90s, the number of overnights with each parent factored in to the child support calculus for cases within the Guidelines. In general, the more overnights meant less...more
Since the US Supreme Court decided Troxel v. Granville in 2000, grandparents have had an uphill battle obtaining grandparent visitation. While the New Jersey standard was set in Moriarty v. Bradt a few years later (a case...more
One of the universal themes in divorce matters is that the court is supposed to try to maintain the status quo while the case is pending. In many cases where there is barely enough money to go around to support an intact...more