1. I have filed a motion to have reduce my alimony payments, and the court granted me a plenary hearing. What the “hxll” is a plenary hearing and is one expensive? Plenary hearings are all the rage now in family court. It seems that nearly one half of the motions that I file now end […]

1. What is an adoption? Adoption is a legal action that terminates all rights, duties, privileges and relationships between the child and his or her birth mother and/or birth father and any person who has become the child’s legal parent. All adoptions in New Jersey are governed by the statutes found at N.J.S.A. 9:3-38 et. […]

I have a court order that compels my husband to pay me $2,500 in child support arrears, and to also pay for $500 in past due medical expenses for our kids. He refuses to comply with the court order! I want to jump off the empire state building because I am so frustrated. What can […]

1. Why is the issue of pre-owned assets so important in the world of family law? The issue of the equitable distribution pre-owned assets always arises in many divorce cases wherein the parties were married later on in their life, or in second marriages. If one or both of the spouses have accumulated some serious […]

1. My husband moved to Florida after we got divorced. How can I now collect my child support? In the world of family law many non-custodial parents who just can’t keep up with high child support payments move out of “Jersey.” Many distressed parents can’t deal with the ever pending threat of being arrested for […]

1 – Deciding the Fair Income of Both Parents – There are many pages in the Rule that talk about different kinds of money. The child support guidelines provide that almost all kinds of income must be used to calculate child support; even things like overtime, lottery winnings, and unemployment benefits must be added in. […]

1. I used to live in Florida, and I obtained a child support award of $200 a week. I recently moved back to New Jersey to be closer to my family. Will New Jersey still enforce the child support order that originated from the Florida? Yes, this order will enforced in New Jersey. However, first […]

1. I have been divorced for two years, and me and my ex-wife have been constantly fighting over claiming the dependency exemptions for our children. Who is legally entitled to claim these dependency exemptions? In most divorce cases, the parties reach an agreement as to which spouse can write off the children, and claim them […]

  1. How are social security benefits treated when calculating child support? It is critically important to differentiate between the different types of social security benefits that are received by the recipient or the child support payor. There are two types of social security benefits that a person can receive. A recipient can either receive […]

1. I am paying $300 per week in child support for my two children. However, I just lost my job at GM. Can I now go back to court to try to get my child support reduced? The family courts are swamped with motions to reduce child support or alimony based on the grounds that […]

1. If a spouse transfers premarital assets into a joint account during the marriage, how are these assets then treated if the parties get divorced? In today’s world, especially in second marriages, premarital assets are often placed in joint names during the marriage. There are many reasons why premarital assets are placed into the other […]