Recent Blog Posts
Should I Get An Annulment Instead of a Divorce?
If you are facing the end of your marriage, you may wonder about your best legal option, given your familial circumstances. Clients often ask about the benefits of mediation, legal separation, contested vs. uncontested divorces, etc. Occasionally, clients who believe they have a very serious reason for ending a marriage wonder if they are… Read More »
No Discovery to Prove Cohabitation Absent Prima Facie Showing
Last month we discussed a case in which the New Jersey Appellate Division refused even to open the door for a child custody evaluation absent a showing of changed circumstances sufficient to justify modifying a custody order. The Appellate Division just issued another “don’t put the cart before the horse” decision along the same… Read More »
How to Invalidate a New Jersey Premarital Agreement
Premarital or prenuptial agreements (“prenups”) allow engaged parties to decide how financial issues and other aspects of a potential divorce would be handled should the parties later decide to split up. Prenups are becoming more and more popular, even among parties with equivalent wealth and earning potential. Gone are the days when prenups were… Read More »
Do’s and Do-Not’s During Your New Jersey Divorce
Divorces can be complicated at the best of times. If you are going through a divorce, the last thing you want to do is add additional legal or financial hardships or otherwise weaken your position on the division of property, alimony, child custody, or any other related matter. Read on for advice on how… Read More »
Child Attending College May Be a “Change in Circumstances” For Purposes of Child Support
Divorce judgments are meant to be the final word on all associated issues–alimony, property division, child custody, child support. Unfortunately, they rarely are completely final. Divorced spouses may move states, come into money, lose their employment, get hurt in an accident, etc. When one spouse’s financial circumstances change significantly from how things were when… Read More »
Does Cheating Affect Alimony in New Jersey
Alimony, also called spousal support or maintenance, is the money paid by one spouse to the other during divorce proceedings or following a final judgment of divorce. Alimony can be temporary or permanent and is generally paid to a spouse who relied on the other for income during the marriage. Alimony can also be… Read More »
New Jersey Appellate Court Emphasizes No Custody Evaluation Absent Changed Circumstances
Child custody arrangements entered into as part of a divorce settlement or judgment are not necessarily the final word on the matter. If something changes for one or both parents down the line, such as a planned move to a new state or the loss of a job, there may be reason to revisit… Read More »
Establishing Paternity As An Adult Child
New Jersey, like other states, has a system in place for establishing paternity. If the parents are married, then the husband is the presumed father. If the parents are unmarried, then the parents can jointly agree to paternity, or either the mother, the putative father, or the child (once capable of doing so) can… Read More »
Dissolving a Civil Union or Domestic Partnership in New Jersey
New Jersey now recognizes marriage among same-sex couples, as does every state in the nation following the Supreme Court’s 2015 mandate. Like many states, while New Jersey did not permit marriage between same-sex couples before this decision, New Jersey did have alternatives. First there were domestic partnerships, which came with limited rights, and later… Read More »
Nannies Are “Household Members” Under New Jersey’s Domestic Violence Act
Domestic violence can take many forms. In addition to physical violence, New Jersey’s 1991 Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA) prohibits actions such as harassment, burglary, stalking, robbery, sexual assault, false imprisonment, and threats. The PDVA also applies to a wider scope of domestic relations beyond married couples, as evidenced by a recent New… Read More »