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
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
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
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
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
Parental alienation cases are heart breaking, both because of the damage to the children and the fact that the alienated parent is often robbed of large parts of the children’s childhood – and worse. For years I have said...more
Black letter law is that to change a child support Order, the person seeking a modification must show a substantial and continuing change of circumstances. But what is the standard if there is a custody agreement, even if the...more
I started reading C.G. v. D.W., an unreported (non-precedential) Appellate Division case released on March 1, 2024, sucked in by the opening sentence about the court’s denial of an intra-state move. As there aren’t that many...more
Earlier this month, I wrote a blog called Court’s Should Not Issue FROs to Address Parenting Issues. That blogged addressed a case where the trial court entered a Final Restraining Order (FRO) to remedy custody and parenting...more
Alimony is generally modifiable if a substantial and continuing change of circumstances can be shown. Typically, when we think about changes of circumstances in this regard, we generally look at financial changes of...more
Going back more than three decades, there are Appellate Division cases that offer caution about the abuse of the domestic violence statute to get a leg up in an impending or pending divorce or custody matter. At around the...more
Not a judge. Not a lawyer. Not a therapist.
Host Sandra Fava and her guest, Eric Solotoff, Co-Chair of Fox Rothschild’s Family Law Department, explore the role of parent coordinators in New Jersey family law disputes....more
1/10/2024
/ Child Custody ,
Co-Parenting ,
Custody ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Family Law Courts ,
Mediation ,
Minor Children ,
New Jersey ,
Parental Rights ,
Parenting Coordinators ,
Parenting Plans
The concept that a child’s disability can delay or prevent emancipation is not a new one. In fact, it has been part of the decisional law for decades. Moreover, the parties cannot contract away the obligation to support a...more
It is not uncommon for grandparents or other family members to get custody of other family members when the children’s parents have issues preventing them from caring for their children and/or when there is DCPP involvement....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
Almost like King Solomon suggesting that a child be cut in two so that each parent can have half, more and more, I am hearing about judges and custody evaluators who default to 50-50 shared parenting. Now, that isn’t the law....more