Co-parenting children when parents are separated or divorced can be challenging in normal circumstances. One would agree, however, that times are not normal. The country is in the midst of a pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus. Governor Murphy has closed schools and many business, and he has directed that…
It is not uncommon as a family law practitioner to experience a difference in the way the family courts handle cases involving the children of divorced or divorcing spouses (where they are matrimonial cases bearing an “FM” docket number) in the dissolution unit, and children of non-married parents in the…
On May 3, 2018 the New Jersey Appellate Division published the case of DCPP VS. T.D., R.C. AND R.G., IN THE MATTER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP OF M.G., B.C. AND A.G. (FG-20-0040-13, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)(CONSOLIDATED) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) (A-4918-15T1/A-4923-15T1), an Opinion affirming the trial court’s decision to not terminate the parental…
This past week the New Jersey Appellate Division issued an unpublished opinion in the case of V.J.C vs. M.V. (docket no. A-4587-15T3). In this case the defendant appealed from a final restraining order (FRO) entered by the trial court in favor of plaintiff pursuant to the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act,…
More than ever it is not that unusual for a father to learn that the child he has been ordered to provide child support for is not his biological child. Instinctively, it would be equitable to assume that a man who is not the biological father of the child should…
The time period in the lead up to and immediately after a couple separates is more likely than not rife with conflict. Unfortunately, the conflicts, whether verbal and/or physical, can rise to the level of abuse that is tantamount to domestic violence. Recently, a New Jersey family court in Ocean County…
The Presidential election is about a month away, and one of the major issues of this election has been immigration. Immigration is regulated under federal law, chiefly under the Immigration and OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Nationality Act (INA), enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1952, and the Immigration Reform and Control…
In February, 2015, Chief Justice Rabner convened a Supreme Court Ad Hoc Committee on Domestic Violence. Whether given that 24 years had passed since the “Prevention of Domestic Violence Act,” (N.J.S.A. 2C:25-17 et. seq.) was enacted, or perhaps even in response to the public backlash and uproar over the handling…
Clearly the period of one’s separation and divorce is one of transition where one must adapt to a plethora of life changes, some within one’s control and some foisted upon one by the views and rules of others. Although statistics indicate that as many marriages end in divorce as end in death, there…
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…