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   

ESSEX FELLS DIVORCE MEDIATION

New Jersey municipal officials who oppose civil unions are the target of the New Jersey Attorney General's ruling that after February 19, 2007, any government official who performs marriages must also perform civil unions for same-sex couples. Major insurance carriers that insure 404 municipalities in legal matters have announced they’ll cap payments in civil union discrimination suits at $25,000. Although they’re already protected against paying for intentional violations of the law, these insurance companies fear they’d have to pay for defending against allegations of wrongful civil union discrimination.  Meanwhile, one New Jersey mayor contacted by The Star Ledger said he’s suddenly too busy to perform marriages at all.    New Jersey Lawyer, January 22, 2007

ALPINE MARRIAGE & DIVORCE

Will all New Jersey mayors and judges willingly conduct civil union ceremonies under the newly enacted New Jersey statute? The New Jersey Attorney General has issued a legal opinion making it clear : officials who perform traditional marriage ceremonies must conduct civil union ones as well. The opinion points out that under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination refusing to officiate for civil unions while conducting conventional marriage ceremonies can bring removal from office and a $10,000 fine for the first offense.   New Jersey Lawyer, December 29, 2006

PASSAIC COUNTY DIVORCE LAWYER

The New Jersey Legislature has voted to allow civil unions between same-sex couples. The civil union law was promulgated in response to an October 2006 New Jersey Supreme Court decision, Lewis v. Harris, to assure that gay and lesbian couples are guaranteed the same rights as married heterosexual couples. New Jersey would be the third state, after Vermont and Connecticut, to establish civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Same-sex marriages are allowed only in Massachusetts, which has a residency requirement, although many gays and lesbians have married in Canada. If enacted by the Governor, the measure would amend New Jersey's matrimonial laws by writing civil unions into all sections, such as those governing divorce, prenuptial agreements, custody, inheritance and powers of attorney in financial and medical matters. It also would create a three-year study commission to decide whether the state should go further and establish the right to gay marriage. Bloomberg.com, December 15, 2006

NEW JERSEY DIVORCE MEDIATION

Under the equal-protection guarantee of the New Jersey Constitution, committed same-sex couples in New Jersey must be afforded the same rights that are enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes. Denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits given to their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose. The name to be given to the statutory scheme---whether "marriage" or some other term---is left to the New Jersey legislature.    Lewis, et al. v. Harris, etc., et al., New Jersey Supreme Ct ., October 10, 2006

NEW JERSEY FAMILY LAWYER : ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

A lesbian couple's request to put both their names on the birth certificate of their son, conceived through artificial insemination, has been rejected by a New Jersey divorce judge who determined adoption is the remedy for establishing parental rights. The judge ruled it's the legislature's role, not the court's, to decide whether New Jersey's artificial insemination statute should be extended to same-sex partners. The law grants parental rights to a husband who consents to his wife's artificial insemination with another man's sperm. Judges in different counties have issued varying rulings on the issue. Last year, a lesbian couple in Essex County won the right to have both their names listed on their baby's birth certificate. But judges in Burlington, Camden and Middlesex counties have denied similar requests. The Attorney General's Office opposes the inclusion of a same-sex partner of a birth mother on a birth certificate.     In Re O'Conor, New Jersey Lawyer, April 14, 2006

NEW JERSEY : SAME-SEX COUPLES

Under the New Jersey Artificial Insemination Statute [N.J.S.A. 9:17-44(a], a child conceived through artificial insemination and borne to a same-sex married couple should be accorded, from the moment of birth, the certainty of parentage, with its resultant rights, benefits and protections. The non-birth mother is acknowledged as the other parent of the infant borne to the birth mother of this couple.    In Re Child of Robinson, etc., ___N.J. Super.___(Ch. Div. 2006) Essex Cy. (Talbert, J.S.C.), January 20, 2006

No To Same Sex Marriage

    "The issue presented by this appeal is whether the New Jersey Constitution compels the State to allow same-sex couples to marry. We conclude that the statutory limitation of the institution of marriage to members of the opposite sex does not violate our Constitution." Lewis et al. v. Harris et al., ___N.J. Super.___(App. Div. 2005); New Jersey App. Div., June 15, 2005; 2005 WL 1388578;

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a2244-03.pdf

 

Gay Marriage Licenses

A Manhattan judge has declared New York's Domestic Relations Law unconstitutional and enjoined the city clerk from denying same-sex marriage licenses. Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan ruled Friday that the statute violates the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the state Constitution. The decision could put New York on the same path as Massachusetts, whose highest court found its state law unconstitutional. New York Law Journal, February 7, 2005