The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, more commonly referred to as “the right to bear arms,” can at times conflict with society’s ability to protect other citizens from those same citizens that have taken up their right bear arms. Nowhere is this more evident…
The 18th century educational writer, W.E. Hickson, is credited with popularizing the proverb: “’Tis a lesson you should heed: Try, try, try again. If at first you don’t succeed, Try, try, try again.” On June 10, 2016 the New Jersey Appellate Division decided the case of KL-v-DL, in which after nearly three…
In a prior post, I took a look at the process necessary to seek the dissolution or modification of a Final Restraining Order (FRO), specifically taking into consideration the Carfagno factors that have since been adopted by the Appellate Division as a non-exhaustive list of factors for the Court to…
The jurisdiction of the Family Part of the New Jersey Superior Court to make orders determining custody is based upon the common law doctrine of parens patriae, which imposes upon the court an affirmative duty to protect the best interests of minor children. The members the New Jersey Judiciary that…
Generally, the concept that in domestic violence matters the concept that a defendant could defend oneself by asserting that their violence towards the plaintiff was deserved or provoked in some way is an abhorrent concept, and would likely not be a successful argument in defending against against an accusation of…
For those of you that have attended Mr. Yudes’ annual ICLE seminar: Family Law Update and/or those of you that have paid close attention to newly published trial court decisions over the past three (3) years will not be surprised to find that the Honorable Lawrence R. Jones, J.S.C., a Superior Court…
Last week, we wrote a blog post discussing the New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent enactment of Rule 5:1-5 which sets forth standards and procedures governing the arbitration of divorce matters. The Supreme Court codified recent case law which had addressed questions arising over the parties’ use of the arbitration process…
It is well known that when an unmarried individual destroys property that belongs to someone else that can be a predicate under New Jersey’s Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA). However, the waters become muddy when a spouse destroys marital property as “property, both real and personal” is part of…
At a domestic violence trial, the burden rests upon plaintiff to show that it is more likely than not that the defendant is guilty of committing the predicate act contained in the plaintiff’s domestic violence complaint. The predicate act would have to be one of the following fourteen (14) criminal acts…
Our Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:25-17 et. seq., is designed to afford victims of domestic violence comprehensive protections. Although the fundamental goal of our domestic violence statute is to protect victims, there are certain penalties and loss of freedoms that the perpetrator faces in the process. One of the most compelling…