New Jersey Family Law

MORRISTOWN MORRIS COUNTY NEW JERSEY ADULTERY DIVORCE DISCOVERY LAWYER MEDIATION

In the wake of the latest Tiger Woods bimbo eruption [9 and counting], New Jersey divorcing spouses are fine-tuning their sleuthing skills. Desktop computers, laptops, cell phones, PDAs, hard drives, back ups, ISPs, text messages, IMs, voicemails, social media such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter---the list grows daily. And even if you don't seek such items, will your spouse?    Digital Lipstick On The Collar, New York Times, December 7, 2009

RIDGEWOOD BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE ATTORNEY MEDIATION

After the New Jersey divorce, the recurrent theme was the contention of misrepresentation of income. But it was undisputed that the parties did not engage in formal discovery or utilize Case Information Statements. Had the wife chosen to do so, she could have sought information regarding the husband's income before signing the agreement. Neither party filed a CIS; the motion made after the New Jersey divorce, claiming "misrepresentation", was properly denied.    Heald v. Heald, New Jersey App. Div., April 1, 2009

VERONA ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY DISCOVERY MEDIATOR

Should you be able to get discovery of a party's psychotherapist notes? The underlying litigation involved plaintiff's challenge to her deceased father's will. Determining that the motion judge's discovery order was overly broad and inadequately protective of highly personal information, the appellate panel vacated the dismissal of the action and remanded. Laubach v. Quinn et al, New Jersey App. Div., September 8, 2008

 

EDGEWATER NEW JERSEY BERGEN COUNTY DIVORCE LAWYER DISCOVERY

Because he was guilty of flagrant and repeated violations of the New Jersey divorce court's discovery orders, the ex-husband's answer to the New Jersey divorce complaint was properly stricken. The court’s attribution of income to the ex-wife is reasonable in light of her inability to resume a prior job that required frequent absences from their child. The award of limited duration alimony is sustained given the duration of the marriage, the parties’ ages, their education, health, and work experience. The determination of assets subject to equitable distribution, the allocation of the amount of each party’s distribution at 50%, and the credits against equity to enable the distribution award conformed with case law and was based on substantial evidence. There was no abuse of discretion in the court granting defendant’s request for parenting time in Israel, subject to plaintiff accompanying the child on the trips.      Granate v. Sharav, New Jersey App. Div., August 28, 2007

NEW JERSEY DIVORCE : DRUG TESTING

Plaintiff seemed under the influence of something at his New Jersey deposition. Two calls were placed to the judge, who ordered him to answer questions about his criminal drug convictions and to undergo blood/urine testing in the middle of the deposition. Plaintiff, who had taken both prescription and illegal substances in the prior 24-hour period, left when he realized he would have to place his drug history on the record. Defendants sought dismissal of the complaint, arguing that plaintiff's failure to submit to the drug tests was tantamount to spoliation of evidence. The prior order requiring plaintiff to submit to the immediate testing was proper. The complaint is dismissed without prejudice and plaintiff is ordered to pay counsel fees and transcription costs for defendants' attendance at the aborted deposition. Any reinstatement motion shall not be filed until the sanctions are paid and plaintiff's deposition conducted anew. Plaintiff shall answer all questions relating to his two drug convictions.      Freeman v. Milric, et al., etc., New Jersey Law Div., Middlesex Cy. (LeBlon, J.S.C.) ; March 14, 2006

NEW JERSEY DIVORCE DISCOVERY

The mother's New Jersey matrimonial motion to compel the father to provide her with his relevant medical and/or psychiatric records was properly denied. The application was for the future medical care of the parties' children. Although he objected on privacy grounds, he agreed to cooperate with any doctor treating his children. Therefore, the judge equitably tailored the order to deny the motion for release of the records to her, but provided for their future release to physicians. Absent expert opinion that current release of the records is necessary, her claims that he might flee the jurisdiction or might be disabled and unable to cooperate or might refuse to cooperate in the future are all rejected.    Massaro v. Massaro, New Jersey App. Div., February 16, 2006

NEW JERSEY ADULTERY

His widow [his second wife, 28 years younger] sued his Estate, claiming that his sons from his prior marriage used "undue influence" to induce their father to make a new will in their favor, depriving her thereby. She sought to set aside the new will and admit a prior will in her favor. The children counterclaimed, alleging misappropriation through her misuse of a power of attorney and improper transfer of his assets. The children wanted discovery of her prior divorce and a purported adulterous affair. The court holds that her cell phone records must be produced, specifically with respect to an individual with whom plaintiff allegedly had an affair. Evidence of decedent's knowledge of his wife's infidelity may be evidential as it relates to his wishes to change his will.   In Re Estate of Fenton,  New Jersey Chancery Div., September 13, 2005

Private School Expenses

Was the father's obligation to pay for the children's private school tuition, extracurricular activity costs and vacation expenses terminated under the parties' New Jersey divorce agreement because his income fell below $500,000 for the year?  He claimed this was an automatic "trigger". But the mother argued his year-end income was tentative and unverified. His application was denied without prejudice. On remand, he must must provide and prove his actual income.    Cherepakhov v. Cherepakhov, New Jersey App. Div., August 19, 2005

Cohabitation Termination

The trial court was wrong when it refused to terminate the ex-husband's alimony. The ex-wife was cohabiting with her paramour as man and wife with all but the marriage certificate. Her failure to provide her paramour’s financial information intentionally prevented the motion to terminate alimony from being properly evaluated. If she wants to reinstate the alimony, the missing information must be provided, and she will have the burden of proving her alleged financial dependence on her ex-husband. Lande v. Lande, New Jersey App. Div., May 26, 2005

Digital Digging

Claiming her husband had a history of "past fraudulent conduct", the wife wanted her computer forensic experts to "impound, clone and inspect" her husband's "computer servers, hard drives, individual workstation PC, laptop and other items containing digital data". She asked that he pay her attorney fees and computer forensic expert costs. He defended by claiming the request was overbroad, intrusive and burdensome. He also questioned his wife's counsel's ability to safeguard his data based on an alleged history of reckless and careless data handling. The court ordered both parties' forensic experts to meet at the data collection center, along with a court-appointed referee; wife's expert will copy the hard drives and immediately turn them over to the referee; after all drives are copied, the experts and referee will examine them; both parties will receive hard copies of relevant business records; the referee will retain custody of the drive images until termination of litigation; wife will pay for all production costs; and each party will advance their own counsel fees and expert costs, subject to reallocation at trial.  Etzion v. Etzion, 2005 WL 689468 (N.Y.Sup. Ct.), May 10, 2005