New Jersey Family Law

ENGLEWOOD BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE MEDIATION ATTORNEY

He arrives home with Current Girlfriend. When he gets there, Old Girlfriend is waiting. OG opens the passenger side door of his car, pulls CG from the car and assaults her. CG is taken to the hospital and treated for the injuries she sustained at the hands of OG. CG files a criminal complaint against OG. The trial judge finds a violation of the New Jersey Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. The Appellate Division reverses.    R. P. v. Somerset, New Jersey App. Div., October 20, 2009

ENGLEWOOD BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE MEDIATION ATTORNEY

The New Jersey Prevention of Domestic Violence Act can be violated in many different ways : "This matter arises out of a dispute between the parties regarding the disposition of an economic stimulus check they received or anticipated they would receive from the federal government."   J.P. v. C.P., New Jersey App. Div., September 28, 2009

WEST ORANGE ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE MEDIATION LAWYER

The New Jersey divorce judge ruled the combination of emails, web site postings and nude photos sufficient to find the defendant guilty of domestic violence. The defendant's testimony about the emails was highly technical and could not be considered because it was not within the court's common knowledge, nor supported by expert testimony. The trial court's finding of a violation of the New Jersey Domestic Violence Act is therefore affirmed.   S.B. v. Duffy, New Jersey App. Div., Sep 3, 2009

SUMMIT UNION COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE MEDIATION LAWYER

They met at a 5 day real-estate course and went out to dinner once. They never had a sexual relationship and they had no contact of any kind over the next 6 years. For purposes of her current domestic violence against him pursuant to the New Jersey statute [N.J.S.A. 2C:25-19d], was theirs a "dating relationship"? The New Jersey divorce judge held it was. This decision is affirmed on appeal.   Jensen v. Baratta, July 24, 2009

 

WESTFIELD UNION COUNTY DIVORCE NEW JERSEY MATRIMONIAL MEDIATION LAWYER

The New Jersey Prevention of Domestic Violence Act is not unconstitutional. Neither its incorporation of procedural components nor its preponderance of evidence standard render it invalid.    Crespo v. Crespo, N.J. Super. (App. Div. 2009); New Jersey App. Div., June 15, 2009

FORT LEE BERGEN COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE ATTORNEY MEDIATOR

The New Jersey Assembly just recommended passage of 2 bills aimed at restricting a person convicted of stalking from contacting his or her victim by email. The first bill would add e-mail messages to the list of prohibited contacts that may be contained in a permanent restraining order, by amending N.J.S.A. 2C:12-10.1, which currently allows for restraining a convicted stalker from "initiating any communication likely to cause annoyance or alarm including, but not limited to, personal, written, or telephone contact with the victim, the victim's employers, employees, or fellow workers, or others with whom communication would be likely to cause annoyance or alarm to the victim." The 2d bill would require anyone convicted of stalking to register all his or her email accounts, usernames and passwords with the local law enforcement agency.      New Jersey Assembly Bill A-2143 and A-3348, May 8, 2009

CALDWELL ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER MEDIATION

The husband explained how a printout from an Instant Messenger dialogue box of a person "having a chat with another person in Yahoo" would look versus a message copied from the Instant Messenger dialogue box and pasted into Notepad. He explained that a printout directly from Instant Messenger is dated and time-stamped, while a printout from Notepad is "paste[d] in paints and file and then you can print it[,]" but that in Notepad, the message itself can be changed, altered, or manipulated. There was substantial credible evidence in the record to support the court's finding that defendant violated the New Jersey Domestic Violence Act and a final restraining order was necessary to protect the wife.    Shah v. Karnik, New Jersey App. Div., May 7, 2009

WESTFIELD UNION COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE MEDIATOR LAWYER

 The wife testified to various acts of violence by the husband, including being slammed against a wall, screaming in her ear, punching her in the stomach, and putting a gun to her face. Although she produced medical records of treatment by her physician, the wife offered no medical expert. The husband denied causing her injuries. At the close of evidence, the judge found that plaintiff failed to "causally link any abusive behavior or misconduct with any particular injury" sustained as a result of defendant's conduct, and dismissed the claim. On appeal, absent the requisite medical proof as to the nature, origin and cause of the injuries, dismissal of the Tevis claim was proper.   Miller v. Miller, New Jersey App. Div., April 29, 2009

NEW PROVIDENCE UNION COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE MEDIATION

The wife spoke to her attorney and purchased a tape recorder. When the husband called her at work, she was able to capture the conversation, which consisted of an "expletive laden tirade" by him. After a domestic violence hearing before the New Jersey divorce judge, she obtained a temporary restraining order against the husband. This ruling is affirmed on appeal.   Brown v. Brown, New Jersey App. Div., April 6, 2009

CHATHAM MORRIS COUNTY NEW JERSEY DIVORCE MEDIATION ATTORNEY

  "We are satisfied that that the evidence established no more than the "ordinary domestic contretemps" that one might expect when a spouse believes that he or she has discovered direct evidence of the other spouse's infidelity."     Curry v. Curry, New Jersey App. Div., January 13, 2009