Even before COVID, in some counties, divorce trials were hard to come by due to backlogs and/or judicial shortages. Some counties ceased trials altogether for a time, even those trials that were underway. Then COVID...more
Over the past decade plus, I have written about the use, if not misuse/abuse of parent coordinators (PCs) many times on this blog. In fact, one of my most popular posts that continues to be read more than two and a half...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
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
Under the guise of the concept that “it costs more to live in two houses than it does one” or “when parties are living separate, they both can’t continue to enjoy the marital lifestyle”, very often, when deciding pendente...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
Frequently, judicial opinions cite the cases that say settlement of disputes ranks high in New Jersey’s public policy. Accordingly, it is very difficult to get a trial court to set aside, and most of the time, a motion to...more
As we have written before, alternate dispute resolution is a favored way to resolve divorce matters, whether it be mediation or binding arbitration. One reason that people choose the arbitration route is that they are...more
Last week, I blogged on the A.J.V. v. M.M.V. case, specifically, regarding the retroactive application of a savings component. As noted in the post, there was an interesting treatment of deferred compensation in the...more
While the issue of savings being a component of alimony has been around for decades, since the Lombardi case in 2016 (which we previously blogged about), the issue of a savings component, especially where parties live...more
A lot of people believe that COVID has caused divorce cases to drag and the legal system to be ground to a halt – or at least, to lag behind. While that is certainly the case in some counties and more particularly, with some...more
3/12/2021
/ Appellate Courts ,
Arbitration ,
Binding Arbitration ,
Case Management ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court Closures ,
Divorce ,
Evidence ,
Eyewitness Testimony ,
Family Law Courts ,
Mediation ,
Settlement Conferences ,
Zoom®
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
Prior to the walk down the aisle for the happiest day of their lives – to that point – many hopeless romantics decide (or are required by their parents) to get a prenuptial agreement which set forth many of their rights and...more
More than 11 years ago, I wrote a post on this blog entitled The Abuse and Misuse of the Domestic Violence Statute. From the statistics, we can see that this is still one of the most read items we have published, because the...more
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
Two common questions I hear from potential clients, as well as the general public, are (1) are the courts open and (2) can people even file new matters (divorce, enforcement, modification, etc.) Some express shock when then...more
Over the last several weeks, via emails, attending webinars and otherwise, I have frequently heard that the coronavirus may create significant estate planning opportunities. In fact, while writing this post, I Googled...more
There has been much news coverage about how China’s divorce filings spiked after their periods of quarantine and lock down ended including in articles and Bloomberg, the Daily Mail and many other publications. In fact, in...more
As we all experience a “new normal,” at least for the next several weeks, if not longer, parents who are divorced or separated and are sharing custody and parenting time of their children during the coronavirus pandemic must...more
I received an email earlier this week containing guidelines for parents who are sharing custody and parenting time of their children during the Coronavirus Pandemic which was prepared by the American Academy of Matrimonial...more
Yesterday, I blogged on the S.W. v. G.M. case in a post entitled More from the Appellate Division on Lifestyle, Foulas and the Concept of Income Equalization. In that blog, I noted that the S.W. court also addressed the...more
A few weeks ago, I authored a post on this blog entitled Debunking the Myth That the Percentage Used in the So-Called “Alimony Rule of Thumb” Should Go Down as the Payer’s Income Goes Up. That post reiterated that the Court’s...more
It has been said over and over again that there are no formula’s to determine alimony. As I have blogged in the past, other than one legal malpractice referencing the formula or “rule of thumb”, virtually every time the...more