Blog Posts in October, 2016

WHAT IS A DEPOSITION AND SHOULD ONE BE DONE IN MY CASE?

Most cases, including divorce and child custody, go through a process referred to as “discovery.” Discovery is how attorneys find out the evidence the other side has, witnesses they intend to call, documents in their possession, and other similar issues. There are many types of discovery, many of which involve written requests for information or documents. Depositions, however, are not just ...

FIRST THIRTY DAYS AFTER DIVORCE FILINGS

Making the decision to start divorce proceedings is never easy, and is often stressful. It helps to ease the stress by knowing what to expect and how the case will start. Your first step will be to find a lawyer that you are comfortable with , and who shares your goals for your case. Your lawyer will then draft a Complaint for Divorce. This document will provide some basic information to the ...

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AFTER DIVORCE

Most children participate in some sort of extracurricular activity at some point in their childhood. These activities can range from soccer to ballet to horseback riding, and can provide excellent enrichment and exercise for children. When the parents of the child have divorced, however, are the parents required to agree on which activities a child will participate in? As activities can be costly ...

MEDICAL DECISION MAKING FOR CHILDREN

In New Jersey, most parents end up with joint legal custody of the children. This typically means that the parents have equal decision-making authority with respect to large decisions affecting the children, including medical and educational decisions. However, what if the parents disagree on a medical issue? Who makes the final decision? Your first step is to look at the terms of your final order ...

RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL AND VISITATION

Perhaps no area of family law is as emotionally overly burdened as that of child custody and visitation. Every parent wants what is best for the children, and that usually means having a visitation plan that provides for the child to spend as much time with each of the parents as possible. One way to achieve this goal is to include the “ right of first refusal ” in your custody order. The right of ...

MEDIATION AND WHEN IT SHOULD BE USED

Any type of family law dispute is typically highly fact specific, as well as emotionally charged. Allowing parties an avenue to create a settlement agreement that is custom tailored to their family and situation is often an optimal solution to bringing a contentious, drawn out process to a quicker end. Mediation is the way this is often done in family law cases. The process can be instrumental in ...

ALIMONY MODIFICATION AND TERMINATION

After your divorce is over and the final Judgment of Divorce is signed, there may still be issues that bind you and your ex-spouse together. Alimony is one of those lingering issues which may require you to have contact with your ex-spouse for years to come. It is often possible to have an alimony award modified or, in some cases, completely eliminated. The relevant issue is whether there has been ...

WHAT IS CONSIDERED INCOME FOR CHILD SUPPORT PURPOSES?

Determination of child support is based on the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines. The idea behind the child support guidelines is that both parents should share in the responsibility of financially supporting the child and the child’s quality of living should not suffer just because the parents are not living under one roof. New Jersey child support takes both parents’ incomes into account when ...

WHAT IS A MARITAL ASSET?

Division of marital property is an important issue in almost every divorce. Marriages of any duration from one year to thirty years typically involve acquiring property and debt together during that time. If the marriage fails, it becomes necessary to divide these marital assets and debts . A marital asset is typically any asset that you or your spouse receives, buys, or otherwise acquires during ...

BASIC FACTORS IN AN ALIMONY AWARD

One of the most frequent questions asked in initial divorce consultations is whether alimony be required in a case, and if so, how long it will be payable and how much will the payments be. Unlike child support, there is no alimony calculator to determine how much it will be, and for how long. Instead, New Jersey law looks to a variety of factors when courts are asked to award alimony. These ...