When a prospective client in a divorce matter comes in, often they have already been served with a Complaint for Divorce that has been filed by their spouse. Beyond discussing the substantive issues of their case, they will inquire about the Complaint itself, what it means, and the need to…
One consideration that comes up in almost every divorce action is the question of whether a spouse can request that the other spouse pay their counsel fees. Awards of counsel fees in New Jersey matrimonial cases are completely up to the discretion of the judges, and the Appellate Division…
In the landmark case of Merenoff v. Merenoff, 76 N.J. 535 (1978), the New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the doctrine of interspousal immunity, which prevented one from suing one’s spouse for injuries proximately caused by the conduct of that spouse. Later, in the case of Tevis v. Tevis, 79 N.J. 422,(1979), the…
In any and all cases where a pension is to be equitably distributed between the parties, there are two questions that a family law practitioner must always consider: (1) How is the pension going to be valued and istributed; and (2) Are survivor benefits going to be elected for the non-pensioner spouse? …
New Jersey’s Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (DVA) was designed to protect victims of serious domestic disputes from the dangers inherent in continued contact with a domestic abuser. Toward that end, the DVA envisions a Final Restraining Order that protects the victim from most contact with the abuser, and imposes…
If divorcing parties have children, the support of these children is one of the issues that needs to be addressed. In the majority of cases the “amount” of child support is fairly easy to determine – the incomes of most families fall within the range covered by the Child…
In a November, 2013 decision published on March 10th of this year, in what appears to be the first decision of its kind not only in New Jersey but in the United States, a Superior Court judge in the matter of Plotnick v. Delucca held that an expectant mother is not required to notify…
United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote on behalf of the Court in the case of Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000), that “the interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children — is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized…
In a recently published opinion, dated February 19, 2014, the Appellate Division analyzed and reversed a trial court’s decision declining to exercise jurisdiction pursuant to New Jersey’s version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (commonly referred to as UCCJEA). In this particular case, designated S.B. v. G.M.B.,…
Recently trial Judge L.R. Jones, J.S.C., an effective and prolific writer, explored the procedures to be followed when pursuing a default judgment. If a defendant does not file an answer or appearance within the thirty-five days after a divorce complaint is filed and lawfully served upon him or her, the…