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In the preface to Benjamin Franklin’s famous 1758 almanac he proclaimed: “A penny saved is a penny got.” In the parlance of our times, the quote has been more commonly used to stand for “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Whether or not Benjamin Franklin, a learned economist, meant that a penny saved, as opposed to reinvested, was in fact a penny earned is up for debate. On September 12, 2016, in the case of Lombardi-v-Lombardi, the New Jersey Appellate Division addressed the issue of how alimony should be calculated in a divorce case when the parties during the marriage historically saved money. Continue reading ›

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It is hard to believe that the end of summer is fast approaching. Whether you consider the beginning of summer to be Memorial Day weekend or the 4th of July, it still seems like it was only yesterday. How time flies. Besides shorter days, cooler nights, school commencing, and packing away the swim suits, the end of summer ushers in another tradition which members of the legal community can look forward to – the Amendments to the New Jersey Court Rules. Gavel & book Continue reading ›

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In September 2014, the New Jersey Legislature amended this State’s statute on alimony.   Among thefile0001270953716 changes that the new alimony statute contains was a provision related to retirement.    The addition that the Legislature made to the alimony statute to include a provision for alimony is lengthy.  N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(j) now provides that alimony may be modified or terminated “upon the prospective or actual retirement of the obligor.”   Continue reading ›

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IMG_1930On August 9, 2016, the New Jersey Appellate Division Committee on Opinions approved for publication the Trial Court opinion of the Hon. L.R. Jones, J.S.C. in the case of Harrington-v-Harrington, in which the court analyzed the situation divorced families face when one of multiple children is emancipated and the effect that emancipation has on child support due on behalf of the unemancipated children. The Court held: Continue reading ›

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It is a well settled proposition in New Jersey that the “goal of a proper alimony award is to assist the supported spouse in achieving a lifestyle that is reasonably comparable to the one enjoyed

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while living with the supporting spouse during the marriage.”  Weishaus v. Weishaus, 180 N.J. 131, 140, 849 A.2d 171, 177 (2004); see also Lepis v. Lepis, 83 N.J. 139 (1980); Crews v. Crews, 164 N.J. 11 (2000).

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Periodically I digress in this blog from topics exclusively dealing with Family Law to issues involving the broader world. We are living in a time when history is being made. The world is in turmoil file000652921227from Brexit to Syrian refugees to radical Islam. The world is afire in controversy and the political out-shoot from these primarily manmade disasters. Over the last two weeks we have been presented with the condensed view of both of our political parties related to the current level of world angst and how the other party and their candidate contributed to any calamity, be it global warming to the Arab Spring. The truth is the world we live in is a mess.  I not sure if it has always been such a mess and we did not know it or if the world has digressed.  I firmly believe it is the latter but that belief is non-empirical. Continue reading ›

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In February, 2015, Chief Justice Rabner convened a Supreme Court Ad Hoc Committee on Domestic_DSC4819 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 of the Ray Rice situation and its spotlight directed upon domestic violence laws, the Committee was charged with examining the current system and to conduct an in-depth review of New Jersey’s domestic violence procedures and laws and to make recommendations to strengthen New Jersey’s response to domestic violence. That Committee recently issued a report which contained thirty (30) recommendations. Continue reading ›

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The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, more commonly referred to as “the right to bear arms,” can GunControl_12_2at 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 than in the tragic events that occurred in Dallas, TX this week where five police officers were killed by sniper fire coming from Micah Johnson who was later killed in a standoff with the police. Continue reading ›

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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 file000799318829addition to asserting one or more of the statutory grounds for divorce, such as irreconcilable differences, a Complaint for Divorce may contain tort claims, including those of marital tort.  A marital tort encompasses various differences for which a complainant may seek monetary damages.  Such torts may include being infected with a sexually transmitted disease by one’s spouse, physical assault and battery, marital rape, wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, use of excessive force, defamation, wiretapping, battered women’s syndrome or attempted murder. Continue reading ›

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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 andAMBULANCE 3 rules of others. Although statistics indicate that as many marriages end in divorce as end in death, there are still lingering prejudices about divorce and the people who are divorced or divorcing that can vary in their impact on one’s life from the vexatious to the life altering.  Continue reading ›