Various blogs have been written by members of our firm about situations where a custodial parents wants to move with the parties’ children to a state other than New Jersey. Can a custodial parent live wherever he/she wants within the State of New Jersey? Can a non-custodial parent ask a…
In enacting New Jersey statute, N.J.S.A. 9:2-2, the Legislature established a mechanism and procedure for a divorced or unmarried parent when seeking to move with one’s children outside the state of New Jersey. The statute provides: “When the Superior Court has jurisdiction over the custody and maintenance of the minor…
A frequent post-divorce concern or criticism often heard from the parent who has primary residential custody of child is that their former partner does not exercise their parenting time and that the failure of their partner to keep to the schedule has negative monetary and lifestyle implications. I have always viewed a…
More and more women are choosing to exclusively breastfeed given the reports as to the superior health benefits, not just physically but psychologically, of breast feeding. Arranging parenting time between divorced or separated parents of a child who is still breastfeeding poses issues not just with overnight parenting time but…
In the case of Slawinski v. Nicholas, 448 N.J. Super. 25 (App. Div. 2016), the Appellate Division addressed a dispute involving parents who entered into a consent order establishing rights to grandparent visitation but then later wished to abrogate those rights. In this case, a motion was brought by the mother…
Earlier this month, a March, 2017 written opinion by family court judge the Honorable Russell J. Passomano, J.S.C. was approved for publication in the matter of BG-v-LH (FM-07-468-13). In this published opinion the court addressed issues of jurisdiction in a custody and parenting time dispute where one party had relocated with…
I am always encouraged when parents who are ending their relationship strive to put aside their own personal conflict with one another to try to do what is best for their children. It is well acknowledged that it is important to children’s development for them to have consistency and stability in…
Frequently, clients come to me complaining that their spouse or partner is exposing their children to dating relationships or conversely ask what should be their response to a spouses objection. Generally I advise that one should follow a common sense approach, meaning one should look at the effect on the children…
On January 12th 2015, the Appellate Division published its opinion in the case of Costa v. Costa. In Costa, the parties were married in 1994 and divorced in 2006. They had two children together, one being born in 1997 and the other in 2000. By way of settlement agreement entered into…
The Appellate Division recently handed down a clear and unambiguous message to triall courts and litigators alike regarding custody disputes and how they should be handled procedurally, regardless of whether the case is pre- or post-judgment. The case, entitled D.A. v. R.C., involved the biological parents of a fourteen (14) year…