New Jersey Family Law

BAYONNE NEW JERSEY HUDSON COUNTY FAMILY LAWYER

The court dismisses plaintiff's appeal from a Family Part order denying her request for grandparent visitation and custody of the two minor children, of whom she is the biological paternal grandmother, but of whom DYFS now has guardianship as a result of the children's biological mother having surrendered her parental rights to the children's current caretakers for adoption. Plaintiff's son, the children's biological father, is deceased. While plaintiff once did have visitation rights, these were suspended based on a substantiated claim of neglect against plaintiff. Her subsequent efforts to obtain custody and visitation were also rebuffed because of this history and her undisclosed criminal history. Finally, once the biological mother surrendered her rights, plaintiff's rights were also extinguished. Since the adoption is now finalized, the appeal is dismissed as moot.      Bratcher v. N.J. DYFS, New Jersey App. Div. , April 4, 2008

PISCATAWAY NEW JERSEY MORRIS COUNTY DIVORCE MEDIATION

The grandparents sought a change of custody away from the mother.  When their application was denied, they sought temporary relief , but since there was no basis to conclude that the New Jersey divorce judge misapplied the law , it was correct to deny further intervention. This included the refusal (1) to appoint a guardian, (2) to compel additional evaluations, (3) to disclose files from the Division of Youth and Family Services, or (4) to interview the children , based on the DYFS investigation and the opinions of the experts who had evaluated and examined the children.         M.N. v. M.N., New Jersey App. Div., February 11, 2008

SHORT HILLS NEW JERSEY ESSEX COUNTY GRANDPARENT VISITATION MEDIATION ATTORNEY

The appropriate principles were apllied by the New Jersey divorce judge under (a) the New Jersey Grandparent Visitation Statute and (b) New Jersey family case law in setting visitation for the maternal grandparents with their 4-year-old grandchild, whose mother died after a 3-year illness. The record supports finding that the grandparents met the threshold determination for harm under applicable legal standards. Reinhardt v. Sperber, New Jersey App. Div., November 5, 2007

BEDMINSTER NEW JERSEY SOMERSET COUNTY DIVORCE MEDIATION GRANDPARENT VISITATION

The father's visitation rights with his two children had previously been terminated, based on overwhelming evidence that he sexually abused them and embarked on a relentless campaign to alienate them from their mother. Now, the New Jersey divorce judge also terminated the visitation rights of the paternal grandmother, because she lived with her abusive son. The Appellate Division affirms, based on the mother's fundamental due process right to raise her child free from judicial interference and supervision. R.G. v. H.G., New Jersey App. Div., August 2, 2007

MORRISTOWN MEDIATION

The New Jersey family law judge aptly denied the grandmother's motion to modify the terms of a "relatively recent" consent order that allowed her to have visitation with her grandson, concluding that she had failed to make even a threshold showing that increased visitation was necessary to avoid harm to the child. Without such a threshold showing, she was properly denied discovery and an evidentiary hearing. The judge also justly denied reconsideration and awarded counsel fees to the boy’s parents.     Parson v. Plotts, et vir., New Jersey App. Div., April 11, 2007

LIVINGSTON DIVORCE ATTORNEY

The United States Supreme Court has declined to review the issue of when state courts can award visitation rights to grandparents, over the objection of a child’s parents. It let stand a decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that upheld a visitation order without requiring proof that denying visits would harm the child. Twelve states prohibit ordering grandparent visitation unless it can be shown that the child would be harmed by their absence.     Fausey v. Hiller, No. 06-863, March 15, 2007

HACKENSACK DIVORCE LAWYER

The New Jersey family law judge granted unsupervised weekly visitation to the paternal grandparents under the New Jersey grandparent visitation statute. But this decision is now reversed, since their only evidence was that they babysat the toddler on occasion, and the mother was amenable to supervised visitation, possibly once a month. The grandparents' proofs were clearly insufficient to satisfy the high burden of proof of harm required under Moriarty v. Bradt to rebut the presumption in favor of parental decision-making. The judge made no finding (and the record is devoid of evidence to support a finding) that visitation was necessary and the monthly supervised visitation schedule offered by the mother was inadequate to avoid harm to the child.     Rente, et vir. v. Rente, New Jersey App. Div., ___ N.J.___ (App. Div. 2006); February 13, 2007

ENGLEWOOD DIVORCE MEDIATION

The Appellate Division reverses the order allowing the grandmother visitation with her grandchildren, over the objection of the parents. There was a failure of proof that denial of the visitation would cause the children to suffer. Moreover, the trial court's ruling impermissibly permitted the grandmother to interfere with the parents' constitutionally-protected right of autonomy in the care and nurturance of their children.   Wellington v. Wellington, New Jersey App. Div., October 17, 2006

NEW JERSEY DIVORCE LAWYER

 Giants defensive end Michael Strahan secretly installed a videotaping system in his home and recorded his future sister-in-law undressing, his wife testified in their New Jersey divorce case yesterday. "I had found video equipment in my bedroom," Jean Strahan said in New Jersey divorce court in Newark. "He had been taping my sister undressing." Strahan, who was living with her future husband, said Michael Strahan wired $30,000 to her bank account as a result of the incident. But Judge James Convery waived her off the subject. She was not able to say whether the money was intended for her sister. Her New Jersey divorce testimony about the videotape was one of several surprise revelations, as her attorney sought to place embarrassing details on the record to undermine Michael Strahan's credibility. His attorney appeared livid about the salacious information slipping into the record, including the tidbit that his client had a sperm analysis while the couple were trying to have children, but he made no comment afterward. Newark Star-Ledger, July 13, 2006

NEW JERSEY DIVORCE GRANDPARENT VISITATION

The dismissal of the grandmother's complaint under the Grandparent Visitation Statute (GVS) [N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.1] is affirmed. The trial court is reversed, in its holding that the GVS could not constitutionally be applied to an "intact" family where the parents both opposed visitation. But to justify the potentially unconstitutional burden on parents posed by the process of discovery and trial, a complaint under the GVS must contain clear and specific allegations of concrete harm to the children if visitation is not permitted. In this case, dismissal was appropriate because the complaint did not allege harm to the children, and plaintiff's certification did not allege specific facts from which harm could be inferred.  Daniels v. Daniels, ___N.J. Super.___(App. Div. 2005); New Jersey App. Div., 2005 WL 3050597, November 29, 2005