Blog Posts in September, 2017

Divorce and Undocumented Immigrants

Litigation can present risks to the litigants. In the context of a divorce, these risks often include the fact that a judge will be making important decisions about the spouses’ futures in a way that could impact them for the rest of their lives. Decisions regarding finances, assets, debts, and children must all be resolved by the end of a divorce, and must all flow through the court system even ...

Kinsella v. Kinsella and Medical Records

In divorce and child custody cases, there can be a wide variety of issues that could involve the medical and psychological history of one or both parties. These issues could include one party’s claim of an inability to work due to a physical disability, or claim by one parent that the other parent is unfit due to mental instability or drug abuse. During a process called discovery, spouses and ...

Helping Your Children Get Ready for Two Homes

While divorce and custody cases present chaos for adults, it also creates chaos in the lives of the children. It should not be overlooked that the children are also going through a time of enormous transition. Children look to their parents for stability and comfort, and a divorce or separation means that the previously united source of stability is now fractured in two. Children will adapt to the ...

D.W. v. M.W. - "Little League Parent Syndrome"

Tantrums, yelling, and general bad behavior is the sort of conduct that a parent will expect to see from time to time from young children. Unfortunately, this type of behavior is not always limited to children, and can sometimes even be seen in parents. After a divorce or custody case has concluded, parents have to continue to try to work together for years. If one parent is behaving especially ...

Credit Rating and Divorce

Divorce will often mean substantial financial change for both husband and wife. Dividing finances and bills can be complicated, especially after a long-term marriage. Both parties will have to create new solutions for their financial futures, often making changes and cuts in several areas. Thought the proceedings and afterwards, these financial changes can create stress for some in terms of their ...

Why Being Overly Aggressive Won't Always Win a Court Case

Any type of court case can bring out the bad side of either party. Divorce and custody cases are no exception, and can sometimes be worse than other types of cases due to the highly personal nature of the case's subject matter. In some situations, the parties will try to deal with their case by taking the most aggressive stance possible. While making a stand for what you want is acceptable, taking ...

Protecting Your Privacy During Divorce

Going through a divorce or custody proceeding means that intimate details of your life will be poured out for attorneys and a judge to see and hear. Not just financial documents, but also the everyday interactions between you and your family members, your habits, and your vices could all be discussed on paper and in testimony during court hearings. Family law is simply an intrusive process, as it ...

Intentional Disruption of the Parenting Plan

After a divorce or child custody case, many parents hope that the worst of the chaos is over. The closure of a final order can bring relief to many parents, as it provides a specific set of rules and responsibilities for each parent and no one is left guessing. In some unfortunate cases, though, some parents may attempt to intentionally disrupt the parenting plan going forward, following the entry ...

Pre-School Disputes - Who Chooses and Who Pays?

Education is crucial to any child's future, and parents work hard to make sure that children have every opportunity to excel. New Jersey has many laws that emphasize the importance of education, including laws providing for parents being required to pay for their children's college education after divorce. A more murky area can be pre-school. The issue of who is required to pay for pre-school and ...

Pick Up and Drop Off Dilemmas

Every custody case has many moving parts. Children have school, extra-curricular activities, play groups, and myriad other activities that parents need to make sure they attend on time. When parents separate or divorce, another important place to which parents must arrive on time is the exchange of the children with the other parent. Even in the most amicable of separations or divorces, the pick ...

Supervised Visitation –NJSA 2A:12-7

The vast majority of parents work hard to make sure that they are always taking the best steps for a child's safety and that they are making the best possible parenting decisions. Unfortunately, in some rare circumstances, one parent may not be keeping a child's best interest in mind and may even take actions that could or do harm the children. In these rare cases, the other parent may need to ...

Null v. Null - The Importance of Complying with Discovery

Court scenes on television and in movies are often dramatic and involve a surprise witness or piece of evidence of some sort. In reality, this sort of surprise almost never happens because the attorneys have already conducted a process called “discovery,” during which they exchange all evidence their clients have in their possession and also a list of witnesses. Discovery is an essential process ...

Why Can't I Do My Child Custody Matter Myself?

Even though more and more court cases are being settled out of court, not every case can be settled before trial. Custody cases often fall into this category because parents have very definite versions of what they believe is best for the children. Parents will often fight as hard as they can to make sure that any custody or visitation order entered by the court reflects what they believe is best ...

When is it Time to Modify an Old Order?

The end of a divorce or custody case provides much-needed closure for both the parties, as well as their children. The end of the case and the entry of the final decree marks the time when everyone can start to move forward and start building a new future. However, not all final decrees mean the parties will never again have to return to court. There can be a variety of reasons that the parties ...

Hague Convention and International Custody Issues

Cases involving child custody can become complicated quickly, as every family and every child is different, and each has their own issues and nuances. This is especially true when issues of international law are involved. Custody battles when more than one state is involved are usually governed by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. When an international dispute arises, the ...

Default Judgments - Clementi v. Clementi

One of the most frustrating parts of a divorce case can be the waiting. You have to wait to get the papers drawn up, wait to have them served, wait for the other spouse to file a response, wait for a court hearing, and so on. When the other spouse is not cooperating and is refusing to file a response, it can feel like the waiting draws out forever. However, New Jersey has a procedure to move a ...

When Children Testify in Divorce

Custody battles can be some of the most hard-fought and contentious court cases. Every parent just wants a result that is best for the child, but parents will often have very differing ideas on what is best. Parents will need to bring as much evidence as possible to a final hearing, including documents, videos, and witnesses to testify on their behalf. In some cases, parents will want to testify ...

Tying Up Loose Ends After Divorce

The end of the divorce case presents both parties with the resolution and closure they have been waiting for. Sometimes parties have been engaged in the case for months or even years before they are able to obtain a final settlement or a court order following a full trial. Whatever way the case ends, the entry of the final order is not always the end of all the issues. There are often some loose ...

Divorce and Credit Scores

Divorce can be one of the most difficult financial situation that most people ever go through. Spouses no longer have a mutual pool of resources to draw from. Instead the spouses must divide their assets and their debts and do their best to make ends meet using only one income. After divorce, many must transition into new living accommodations, purchase new furniture, or find a new mode of ...

Narcissism and Child Custody Cases

Personality clashes between parents are going to happen in even the most happy of relationships. When the parents divorce or separate, these disagreements can become more pronounced. It is not uncommon for one parent to believe the other is being unreasonable or selfish, but when these types of personality traits become overly pronounced, it could be that one parent is a narcissist. Narcissism is ...

Divorce Arbitration

It is increasingly common for divorce cases to be settled before a final hearing. Settlement allows parties to maintain control over the divorce case. The spouses can craft solutions for their future that fit in with how they want to move forward. In attempting to settle, there are several different options to have the process facilitated by a third person. Mediation is a well-known method, ...

K.A. v. J.L. - Electronic Service

Facebook and social media attract more and more users every day. Almost 2.5 billion people worldwide use the internet, and the vast majority of these users access the internet on a daily basis. People use the internet to keep in touch with friends and family, as well as use it as a business and personal networking platform. In a recent case, a New Jersey court was faced with the issue of whether ...