On Friday, billions of people around the world observed the Christian Holy Day of Good Friday. It marks the day that the Trial of Jesus of Nazareth occurred and when he was sentenced to death for failing to deny that he believed himself to be the Son of God. Christians believe…
Articles Posted in Other Family Actions
The Violence Against Women Act and Remedies to Undocumented Immigrants Victimized by Domestic Violence
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), 42 U.S.C. § 13701 et seq., is a United States federal law that was originally passed in 1994 and was reauthorized in 2013 in which the spouses and children and parents of United States citizens or lawful permanent residents may self-petition to obtain lawful permanent residency in…
New Jersey Appellate Division Addresses the Due Process Rights of Mother Faced with an “Established” Finding of Child Abuse or Neglect Without an Evidentiary Hearing
On February 1, 2017, the New Jersey Appellate Division published its opinion in the case of New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. V.E., A-0586-15T4 — A.3d —- (2017). V.E. is the mother of R.S. now age nine. V.E. appealed an administrative finding of the New Jersey Division…
How a New Jersey Family Court Judge Handles a Domestic Violence Case Filed in Close Proximity to Another Family Action
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…
New Jersey Supreme Court Addresses Limited Role of Family Court in Immigration Matters
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…
Guns and Domestic Violence
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…
Beyond Irreconcilable Differences — Marital Torts
When contemplating divorce many people fail to consider other causes of action that should be raised in a Complaint for Divorce and risk being barred from making a claim in the future. In addition to asserting one or more of the statutory grounds for divorce, such as irreconcilable differences, a…
Revisiting the Application to Dissolve or Modify a Final Restraining Order
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…
Psychological Parents and Tri-Parenting Relationships
In a recently published decision, D.G. and S.H. v. K.S., FD-1386-14S, the Honorable Stephanie M. Wauters, J.S.C., issued what could prove to be a groundbreaking decision as the definition of family continues to develop and evolve with the ever changing times. The original ninety-six page decision decision was abridged to twenty-two…
WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER: CIVIL v. RELIGIOUS DIVORCE – PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Although I can recall having heard about similar stories in the past, a recent news story caught my eye in which a Lakewood, New Jersey couple had been sentenced in a plot to extort a divorce. They, along with others, were accused of involvement in a scheme involving the kidnap…