New Jersey Family Law

NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER ALIMONY MEDIATION

Some 5,000 gay and lesbian couples in New Jersey have registered as domestic partners, and many have yet to form a civil union under more recent state law. So what happens to their property if they decide to break up? This week Gloucester County Judge John Tomasello ruled in a case believed to the first of its kind that there should be an equitable distribution of assets in the same way assets would be distributed in the divorce of a married couple. Furthermore, recognizing the special circumstances of gay couples who often had years-long committed relationships before being permitted to legally formalize them, the Judge dated the period of equitable distribution to the formation of the couple in 1999 rather than the establishment of the domestic partnership soon after the enabling law came into effect in 2004. The defendant intends to appeal.   Miken v. Hind; New Jersey Lawyer; January 31, 2008   

EMERSON NEW JERSEY BERGEN COUNTY DIVORCE LAWYER ATTORNEY FEES

Some New Jersey divorce Judges compel the parties to exchange pretrial written settlement offers under seal. If the case doesn't settle, the Judge then looks at these proposals after the fact, to determine which party was "unreasonable" and assesses counsel fees accordingly. The Appellate Division has just ruled this practice is improper and constitutes reversible error : "A remand is also required to correct legal error. It was not proper to consider settlement proposals in fixing counsel fees...There is no authority to award or enhance a fee because one party's settlement offer is "fairly reasonable" and the other's offer is "decidedly less so."       Dounis v. Dounis et al., New Jersey App. Div., January 25, 2008

MORRISTOWN NEW JERSEY MORRIS COUNTY MATRIMONIAL LAWYER

It was correct for the New Jersey divorce judge to deny reinstatement of the father's driver's license. It had been administratively suspended pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.41 and R. 5:7-5(e) for failure to pay child support arrears of approximately $40,000. The judge rejected defendant's arguments that his disability and consequent involuntary unemployment were the cause of the arrears, and that suspension of his license would create an extreme hardship because he needed a license to obtain employment as a truck driver and for trips to the doctor for his daughter. Support had been set with the knowledge that defendant was unemployed, and the court was not satisfied that he established an inability to sustain any type of employment. Further, he had a long history of non-compliance with support orders even prior to his license suspension.    Rodriguez, etc. v. O'Brien, New Jersey App. Div., January 23, 2008

NEW JERSEY DIVORCE ATTORNEY PASSAIC COUNTY FAMILY LAW

A woman who was beaten several times during her marriage and once obtained a restraining order against her husband has accepted a settlement between $180,000 and $250,000 from the now ex-husband for causing her to suffer from battered woman's syndrome. The amount of the final payment depends on the price received for the sale of the couple's marital home. The battered woman's syndrome tort was established in the 1995 Superior Court ruling Cusseaux v. Pickett and requires a plaintiff to show the spouse committed extended and injurious abuse and that the plaintiff was unable to repair the situation unilaterally.  Cennamano v. Cennamano, New Jersey Ch. Div., Passaic County; New Jersey Law Journal, January 22, 2008

EDGEWATER NEW JERSEY BERGEN COUNTY DIVORCE LAWYER PALIMONY

In an appeal by the decedent's wife, the Appellate Division reverses the trial court order that imposed a constructive trust on the wife's share of the decedent's intestate estate in favor of the decedent's companion, with whom the decedent had lived since shortly after his estrangement from his wife 40 years before. This was because (1) the evidence was sufficient to establish a question of fact as to whether there was an implied promise by the decedent to ensure that the companion would receive adequate provision during the remainder of her life and (2) the trial court erred by relying on the equitable principle of constructive trust and should have relied on contract principles.    In Re Estate of Quarg, ___ N.J. Super. ___(App. Div. 2008); January 21, 2008

WEST MILFORD NEW JERSEY PASSAIC COUNTY DIVORCE MEDIATION

The ex-husband was 73 and claimed to be in deteriorating health, which limited his ability to practice medicine. He had sold both the former marital home and the condominium he had bought after the New Jersey divorce, and he alleged that his current financial circumstances warranted a reduction in his support payments. The application was denied because he failed to submit a Case Information Statement, or any other financial information, and thereby failed to present a prima facie case warranting a plenary hearing.     Thelmo v. Thelmo, New Jersey App. Div., January 18, 2008

ENGLEWOOD NEW JERSEY BERGEN COUNTY DIVORCE LAWYER

In the New Jersey judgment of divorce, the mother got custody of the 3 children and the father was permitted monthly telephone communications with them. The father appealed on the mistaken assumption that the New Jersey divorce judge terminated his parental rights; there was no such order, and his parental rights remained intact. There was no basis for the father's argument that there should be joint custody of the children where he will not be eligible for parole until 2027. Finally, there was no merit to the father's argument that he was entitled to the appointment of counsel.   Flores v. Flores, New Jersey App. Div., January 17, 2008

WALLINGTON NEW JERSEY HUDSON COUNTY DIVORCE LAWYER

The restraining order entered against defendant is affirmed based on an altercation which occurred when he arrived to pick up the parties' daughter for a visitation. The court rejects defendant's sole contention that the trial judge erred in denying his request for an adjournment to obtain counsel, where he appeared on the return date of the temporary restraining order and did not request counsel, and did not request counsel until late during the proceedings on the adjourned return date.       Whittington v. Garrett, New Jersey App. Div., January 16, 2008

NORTH HALEDON NEW JERSEY PASSAIC COUNTY DIVORCE PALIMONY LAWYER

On January 22, 2008, the New Jersey Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a long-awaited and much-observed important palimony case. As defined by the Court, the major issue presented on appeal is defined as follows : does a long-term, intimate relationship between an unmarried woman and man who did not cohabit, but who attempted to have a child together, support the woman's action for palimony?     Devaney v. L'Esperance, New Jersey Supreme Court, January 15, 2008

BAYONNE NEW JERSEY HUDSON COUNTY DIVORCE LAWYER CHILD SUPPORT

The New Jersey divorce judge was correct in increasing the father's parenting time, where the purpose of the change was to reduce stress on the children from custody transfers, and the children responded well to an alternating schedule. However, the judge erred in reducing the amount of child support based on defendant's contention that the amount agreed upon in the parties' New Jersey divorce agreement was a mutual mistake. There were factual disputes as to whether the parties had agreed to calculate the child support based on the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines, with fundamentally different views as to their intentions and whether there was a mutual mistake. Therefore, the judge should have held a plenary hearing, which is ordered on remand.     Foster v. McGee, Jr., New Jersey App. Div., January 14, 2008