New Jersey Family Law

RANDOLPH MORRIS COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER MEDIATOR

Plaintiff, a domestic violence victim, appeals from the trial court's order denying her application to assume a new name, her request to waive the requirement to publish notice, and her request that the matter be placed under seal and not be entered in any data base accessible by the public. In this case, adhering to the rule requiring publication of an application to change a name would result in an injustice. Because good cause exists to seal the court record, it reverses the trial court order pursuant to Rules 1:1-2 and 1:2-1.     I/M/O Application of E.F.G. to Assume a New Name, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2008); New Jersey App. Div., March 28, 2008.

HACKENSACK BERGEN COUNTY DIVORCE MEDIATION LAWYER

Charles C. Abut, Esq. has been named to New Jersey's Top 100 Lawyers in the April 2008 edition of New Jersey Monthly Magazine.  Peer-selected from among the more than 80,000 attorneys in New Jersey, Mr. Abut has also been chosen for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America in each year since 2000.  A graduate of Columbia [BA] and Cornell [JD], Mr. Abut is certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a matrimonial law attorney and has offices in Springfield and Hackensack, New Jersey.   March 27, 2008

SCOTCH PLAINS UNION COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER

They never married, but they cohabited for 24 years. After their relationship ended, the issue was whether he had any interest in the property they lived in together. Distinguishing Mitchell v. Oksienik [which involved an unmarried couple who engaged in a joint venture to purchase their residence where they lived as a "married" couple] the New Jersey divorce judge found there was no evidence of a partnership between the parties, who did not conduct themselves as if they were married. They had separate bank accounts, filed separate tax returns, owned separate vehicles and procured separate insurance. For many of the years of the relationship, he admitted he had little or no income. Finally, the property was purchased solely by her, with funds she acquired from selling her own prior property and he did not make any significant mortgage or repair payments.    Ristine v. Fleming, New Jersey App. Div., March 26, 2008

HAWORTH BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER MEDIATION QDRO

They were divorced in 2003. Pursuant to a PSA, there was to be a QDRO distributing a retirement  asset. But by 2006, the QDRO had still not been prepared. This failure resulted in extensive and expensive post-judgment motion practice, involving contested modification of the PSA, changes to the coverture period, surcharging of interest and this Appellate Division decision, including the statement that the Plan should now [in 2008] be impleaded. This will necessarily result in further complications and more legal fees. "We can readily understand defendant's chagrin at the delay in receiving her share of the...Plan.... we can only suggest that the parties implead [the Plan] pursuant to R. 4:29-1(a) and make an application for an order to show cause..."     Panza v. Panza, New Jersey App. Div., March 25, 2008

MILBURN ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER COLLEGE EXPENSES

The New Jersey divorce judge ordered the father to pay half of his son's college expenses and to submit a timetable for overdue college payments. But because the judge failed to comply with Rule 1:7-4 [requiring findings of fact], the matter must be remanded. Although the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines do not apply to children over 18 in college, the judge did not analyze the factors in N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(a). The summary explanation that the amount chosen was in consideration of "the respective incomes and budgetary concerns of the parties, together with the expenses for the college student," is wholly insufficient. As to college expenses, the judge also neglected to address (1) many of the Newburgh factors; (2) defendant's claim he had no relationship with his son; (3) he was not consulted in decisions affecting his son's life, including choice of college; and (4) he was unable to afford the college chosen by mother and son.   Cruz-Chase v. DeJesus, New Jersey App. Div., March 24, 2008;          http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a3864-06.pdf

WEST PATERSON PASSAIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER TRUSTS & ESTATES

The daughter of an heir to the Jell-O fortune, who spent 14 years looking for her birth mother, is not entitled to a multimillion-dollar share of two disputed trusts, according to New York's highest court. In the disputed trusts decision, the court reversed the Appellate Division, finding that the law in effect when the trusts were executed does not imply the right of an adopted-out child to share in a class gift. The unanimous court also found that public policy precludes office manager Elizabeth McNabb, 52, from receiving shares of two trusts created to benefit her birth mother's "descendants" and "living children."    Matter of the Accounting by Fleet Bank. Court of Appeals, March 21, 2008     <http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/decisions/mar08/27opn08.pdf>

CHATHAM MORRIS COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER CHILD SUPPORT

Although the mother sought child support arrears and all support paid through Probation, with counsel fees, the New Jersey divorce judge did not err in granting the father's cross-motion to reduce child support due to a downturn in the economy and substantially diminished income from his ob/gyn practice. Given the changed circumstances, enforcement of the parties' New Jersey divorce agreement was no longer fair, especially as to the escalator clause and the daughter's college expenses. The judge did not err in determining the amount of income to be imputed to defendant and failing to consider the financial contributions of defendant's second wife. But the reverses on the award of only $5,000 in counsel fees : she incurred nearly $57,000. The judge did not address the counsel fee provision, and the matter is remanded for further consideration of the issue.     O'Connell v. Nataloni, New Jersey App. Div., March 20, 2008

JERSEY CITY HUDSON COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER MEDICAID

After obtaining Medicaid benefits for his father, the son, through a power of attorney, obtained an $85,200 mortgage loan on his parents' condominium. The check was made payable to himself and his parents, and was deposited in the parents' bank account. A month later, he wrote himself a check for $35,000. The next day, he applied for Medicaid benefits for his mother, without revealing her ownership interest in the account. Then,  he wrote checks to himself totaling $24,250. A period of Medicaid ineligibility was therefore imposed on his parents. As a result, he had to repay the State Treasurer $67,792. Inter alia, the court rejects the son's claim he cannot be held liable for repayment, because his parents had resources beyond the qualifying limit, and it was his actions which resulted in the illegal payments. He failed to take the required steps to liquidate the condominium – the resource which rendered his parents ineligible for benefits – and then borrowed against the asset and transferred a large portion of those funds to himself. Further, his testimony regarding an alleged $35,000 loan he made to his parents – which he ostensibly paid back from the mortgage funds -- was found not credible.     A.H. v. Div. of Medical Assistance and Health Svcs., et al., New Jersey App. Div., March 19, 2008

MOUNTAINSIDE UNION COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER

This was an insurance coverage dispute. The issue was whether a homeowner's policy provides coverage for incidents of child sexual abuse, for both the abuser and his spouse. HELD : the public policy underlying encouraging the "innocent" spouse to be vigilant vis à vis the victim child precludes such coverage, especially given the prior precedent of J.C. v. N.B., 335 N.J. Super. 503 (App. Div. 2000), certif. denied, 168 N.J. 294 (2001).      High Point Ins. Co., etc. v. J.M. (a minor), et al., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div.2008); New Jersey App. Div., March 18, 2008

HO-HO-KUS BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER

Because the father is a Maine resident, the New Jersey divorce court did not have personal jurisdiction over him. Therefore, the trial court's decision finding him to be the father of plaintiff's twin girls, and requiring him to pay child support is reversed. The trial court erred in concluding it had jurisdiction to entertain the Maryland-resident mother's complaint merely because defendant paid child support through New Jersey probation for his 4 other children in New Jersey, had a cell phone with a New .Jersey area code and occasionally worked here as a laborer or electrician. None of these contacts bears upon the relationship the father has with the mother, or the paternity of the children, or their support.      Brennan v. Brown, New Jersey App. Div, March 17, 2008