When I was a young lawyer, few people heard of drones, if they even existed. Similarly, remote access to computers was only a burgeoning concept and done via dial up modems. Who knew that one day, the could be considered...more
1/29/2026
/ Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber-Stalking ,
Cybersecurity ,
Divorce ,
Domestic Violence ,
Domestic Violence Restraining Order ,
Drones ,
Electronic Monitoring ,
Family Law Courts ,
Harassment ,
Invasion of Privacy ,
Restraining Orders ,
Security Cameras ,
Spouses ,
Stalking
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
12/29/2025
/ Alimony ,
Child Custody ,
Child Support ,
Child Visitation ,
Co-Parenting ,
Division of Assets ,
Divorce ,
Equitable Distribution ,
Family Law Courts ,
Marital Assets ,
Parenting Plans ,
Parenting Time ,
Separation ,
Spousal Support ,
Spouses
When the alimony statute was amended in 2014, gone was the notion of permanent alimony which had no bright line in terms of years of marriage where someone was eligible to receive it. Rather, it was replaced with open...more
11/26/2025
/ Alimony ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Credibility ,
Divorce ,
Family Law Courts ,
Marriage ,
New Jersey ,
Separation ,
Spousal Support ,
Spouses ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
TRO
When a party obtains a domestic violence Final Restraining Order (“FRO”), they are typically entitled to an award of counsel fees as compensatory damages. As often is the case, when one party obtains a Temporary Restraining...more
11/13/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Bad Faith ,
Domestic Violence ,
Evidence ,
Family Law Courts ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
New Jersey ,
Restraining Orders ,
Spouses ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Trial Practice Guidance ,
Trial Preparation
Since Congress enacted §529 of the Internal Revenue Code in 1996 which, to over simplify things, allowed people to save tax free for college, these accounts have been a popular investment vehicle. Often they are funded by the...more
11/10/2025
/ 529 Plans ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Beneficiaries ,
Divorce ,
Education Expenses ,
Equitable Distribution ,
Family Law Courts ,
Inheritance ,
Marital Assets ,
Marital Settlement Agreements ,
Property Division ,
Spouses ,
Sua Sponte ,
Trusts ,
UGMA ,
UTMA
I have written a lot on this blog regarding my love/hate relationship with the appointment of parent coordinators. In fact, one of the more read posts, to this day, is one from 2019 entitled The Futility of Parenting...more
10/31/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Child Custody ,
Custody Agreements ,
Custody Modification ,
Family Law Courts ,
Joint Custody ,
Jurisdiction ,
New Jersey ,
Parental Alienation ,
Parenting Coordinators ,
Parenting Plans ,
Parenting Time
Normally, when I write about case law, it is a divorce or family law case. Today, of all things, a tax court case caught my attention as it dealt with the issue of whether New Jersey recognizes common law marriage.
In...more
10/10/2025
/ Common Law Marriage ,
Divorce ,
Domestic Partnership ,
New Jersey ,
Property Tax ,
Spouses ,
State and Local Government ,
State Taxes ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Surviving Spouse ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Exemptions
Sometimes people are too smart by half and unfortunately attempt to use the domestic violence system as a sword. In 2009, I wrote on this blog a post entitled The Abuse and Misuse of the Domestic Violence Statute that still...more
9/30/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Child Custody ,
Coercion ,
Domestic Violence ,
False Statements ,
Family Law Courts ,
Harassment ,
New Jersey ,
New Legislation ,
Parenting Time ,
Restraining Orders ,
Statutory Interpretation
Too often, litigants (and sometimes attorneys) treat prenuptial agreements as documents that either don’t have to be followed and/or should be attacked as a matter of course to try to get the party who entitlements are...more
7/2/2025
/ Appeals ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Divorce ,
Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Marital Assets ,
Prenuptial Agreements ,
Spouses ,
Waivers ,
Wills
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