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
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
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
One of the universal themes in divorce matters is that the court is supposed to try to maintain the status quo while the case is pending. In many cases where there is barely enough money to go around to support an intact...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
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
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
From the earliest days of this blog in 2008, one of my frequent topics has been the use of parent coordinators. Originally, there was a Pilot Program instituted by the Supreme Court for use of parent coordinators. At the...more
The proliferation of genetic testing, where you buy a kit and then send away saliva or scrapings from your cheek, to get your genetic history has certainly lead to many unintended consequences....more
For many divorce attorneys, the busy season starts after the first of the year. For the last several years, I have posted on the phenomenon of the New Year’s Resolution Divorce. For whatever reason, this post has struck a...more
I saw an article this morning about people who brought their digital platform to prepare prenups to the show Shark Tank. I haven’t viewed their site and have no idea whether it is good or bad. But haven’t we all heard tales...more
One of the more difficult scenarios to deal with during a divorce is when the higher earner who will likely have to pay alimony and child support, loses her/his job through no fault of their own. The problem is exacerbated...more
More and more, we have seen medical practices bought up by hospitals, large medical groups and venture capitalists who combine the practices into mega-practices or networks. In those cases, often one doctor in a group has no...more
Typically, divorce cases are handled by the court on the “FM” docket and cases involving people that weren’t married but have children together are handled on the “FD” or non-dissolution docket. Despite the fact that a...more
I have seen this more than one time in my career. One party (or his/her family members) really wants there to be a prenuptial agreement but, either due to lack of time, fear/cowardice, not having your act together, or any...more
5/3/2021
/ Child Support ,
Civil Unions ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Disclosure ,
Duress ,
Inheritance ,
Life Insurance ,
Marital Assets ,
Marriage ,
Prenuptial Agreements ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spouses
We see it all of the time. The support (alimony and child support) obligor’s income is made up of multiple components – typically salary, bonus and/or deferred compensation. In cases where the bonus/deferred comp makes up...more
Over the years, I have blogged about alimony formulas, “rules of thumb” and similar ways that alimony is settled. I say settled, because in most instances, courts are not allowed to use a formula to determine alimony. ...more
An all too familiar, if not overused, term to describe all thing Covid 19/Corona virus is “unprecedented.” In an attempt to avoid politics, whether any of this was foreseeable or not, there is no dispute of the absolute...more
It is not unusual for deferred compensation (eg. stock options, restricted shares, RSU, REUs, and a whole host of others) to be addressed in marital settlement agreements, either as assets divided in equitable distribution,...more
It is not unusual for parties to address their children’s college education in their Marital Settlement Agreements. If children are college age or close, parties may actually specifically determine the percentages that they...more
As I wrote in December, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted at the end of last year, changed the taxability of alimony starting in 2019. Specifically, while alimony is currently income to the recipient and deductible from the...more