Family law in New Jersey is that field of lawyer representation covering the benefits and obligations that come with family or family-type relationships. The “family” in family law includes traditional and nontraditional families and relationships, including unwed parents, same sex couples, and even legal issues involving embryos in the custody of fertility clinics. It’s an area of law where one can see the best in people (uncontested step-parent adoptions) and the worst (a high conflict divorce in which parties seek mutually assured destruction and use their children as their pawns in a contest of wills).

Family law covers a wide range of legal issues, including divorce, child custody, parenting time, psychological parenting of children by third parties to the marriage, child support, college education financing for kids, alimony, adoption, prosecution and defense of domestic violence restraining orders, name changes, juvenile delinquency cases, abuse and neglect of children, termination of parental rights, and even pre-marital or significant other partnership agreements. It can cover relationship responsibilities (child custody, supervised parenting time), financial rights and responsibilities (spousal and child support), the commencement of relationships (premarital contracts), and their dissolution (divorce and termination of parental rights).

• Alimony or spousal support: Alimony is not an automatic right in every divorce under New Jersey law. Alimony is the right of a dependent spouse, under certain circumstances, to receive support from the other spouse. Alimony is determined when the marriage dissolves. Alimony is a “live” issue when there are large differences in income between the spouses; or one spouse has a relative dependency created by “marital impact” of raising children; or based on following the moneyed spouse from location to location to support the moneyed spouse’s career growth; or by advanced age or illness of the dependent spouse.  There is no formula governing the amount of alimony. Rather, the amount depends on the former marital lifestyle, the parties’ relative incomes and abilities to pay moving forward, their new budgetary needs, and the interplay between equitable distribution and spousal support.  The parties can negotiate alimony or seek an interim court order for it, which may advise their later negotiations around more long-lasting support. Duration of alimony is guided by statute, which says alimony shall not exceed the length of the parties’ marriage (and in practice does not usually exceed 50% of that number of years), except for a marriage over 20 years, which yields a longer alimony result, typically ending with the payor spouse’s disability, bona fide retirement, or death.  Parties can ask for upward or downward modifications based on future substantial changed financial circumstances of one or both of the parties.  Cohabitation by the supported spouse will suspend or terminate alimony. Bona fide retirement at Social Security age or death of the payor will terminate alimony as well.

• Child support: Both parents must contribute to a child’s financial support. For middle income parents, support is determined by the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines, based on a formula that considers both parents’ incomes, tax withholdings, the child’s overnights at each home, medical insurance costs, union dues, obligations to children of a prior relationship, and employment-related day care. NJ high earners are required to use the Child Support Guidelines up to their maximum, then engage in negotiation or litigation to determine the rest.  People can be highly creative in this undertaking.  They can work with accountants, financial planners, therapists, lawyers, divorce coaches, and anyone else who can help them figure out a fair figure for child support in an “over-Guidelines” situation.  Child support belongs to the minor child or children.  The recipient spouse or former spouse acts as a financial guardian for the children, although s/he is not expected or required to meticulously account for expenditures of child support monies.

• Child custody and parenting time: Deciding which parent will serve as a primary custodian of a child is sometimes easy (based on clear history) and sometimes difficult (the parties have a true shared parenting arrangement). The courts permit the parents to decide on these arrangements, and prefer that they do.  However, some couples find they are at impasse in these negotiations.  At that point, separation counseling may break the impasse, or the parties may spend a lot of money retaining a forensic psychologist or psychiatrist to evaluate the family system and make recommendations that either the parties consider and implement or that goes to the trial court for consideration.  Either way, both parties typically share joint legal custody to make important decisions concerning the child’s basic upbringing (religious and other) and day-to-day health, education, and welfare. If these disputes escalate or become a protracted, it will inevitably harm the child. Another major issue is one parent’s desire to move out-of-state with a minor child.  Absent consent by the other parent, a Family Part judge will make that decision.

• Divorce: This legal proceeding brings a marriage officially to an end. New Jersey allows (encourages) no-fault divorce, so one party need not blame the other – unless child custody is contested or one party accuses the other of physical or other abusive behavior resulting in a claim for damages. In such cases, a “fault” ground for divorce may be desirable, as it relates evidence of fault to evidence of other claimed wrongdoing. The process can be hard fought and litigated or brought to an end through a collaborative process where the two parties try to make the best of a difficult situation. If the couple has children, child custody, parenting time, and support issues will need to be resolved. Jointly acquired marital assets and debts need to be fairly divided and distributed, usually (but not always) on a 50-50 basis.
• Mediation, arbitration, and collaborative law: NJ courts actively promote and encourage various methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), as do therapists, financial advisors, and progressive divorce and family lawyers.  Privacy, convenience, cost savings, and “win win” philosophies make these methods highly desirable for parties.  Also, if there are questionable tax practices that one or both of the parties engaged in historically, these methods are almost mandated, to avoid the trial judge’s contacting the IRS or the NJ Division of the Treasury to report what appears to be tax fraud.  What the trial judge doesn’t know, because a case resolved in ADR, can help the parties avoid a protected and ugly mess.

Mediation involves a trained third party neutral meeting with the parties to try to help them reach a resolution.  The mediator has no decisional authority, but through skillful means attempts to bring the parties to common ground.  The mediator may be a lawyer, a therapist, or a financial expert.  The parties use their lawyers to gain information about process and substance, and the parties meet with the mediator either on their own or with their lawyers present.

Arbitration involves the parties’ empowering a third party neutral to consider testimony, evidence, and expert reports, and then to render a decision, most often binding, on the outstanding issues.  This permits the parties to avoid going to a public trial with a judge they may not know or trust, on a conveniently scheduled basis, in the privacy of a law office.  Arbitration typically is less formal, time consuming, and expensive than a contested public trial.  The arbitrator will render a written decision that typically is not appealable, unless the parties’ Agreement to Arbitrate states otherwise.

Collaborative law entails each party retaining their own lawyer and both parties and lawyers pledge to stay out of court, except on an uncontested basis.  The parties work with financial and therapeutic coaches, as well as their lawyers, to resolve all issues related to child custody, parenting time, child support, alimony, equitable distribution, and all related issues, and to reach a negotiated settlement. If either party backs out, at any point, for any reason, then both attorneys must immediately withdraw from the case and the couple will need to engage litigation counsel.

Some parties and their legal counsel, preferring not to have such an extreme risk, agree to act as “cooperatively” rather than “collaboratively”.  In a cooperative divorce setting, the parties and their legal counsel set a strong goal of resolving all issues out of court, but reserve the right to seek court intervention, with the same lawyers, if either or both of the parties should change their minds and seek court-based remedies, in whole or in part.

• Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements: Prenuptial agreements are legal contracts that a couple complete and sign before their marriage occurs. The parties transparently and completely list their respective assets, debts, incomes, and budgets, and state the parties’ rights and obligations concerning property division and spousal support if the planned marriage ends in divorce. Child custody, parenting time, and child support can’t be part of a binding prenuptial agreement in New Jersey, because those issues cannot be planned before the advent of children and the circumstances surrounding a later separation and divorce. People with children from a prior relationship should seriously consider entering into such agreements, as should the money- or property-advantaged affianced.

Postnuptial agreements are similar in design and intent, but are created after the marriage has occurred, sometimes years later.  Their enforceability in New Jersey is questionable, due to concerns that the party who desires a divorce may push the resisting party into signing an unconscionable or coercive Agreement, which contravenes public policy.  There are valid uses of postnuptial agreements, but the process must be handled carefully and with an understanding that the Family Courts may not agree to enforce them.

CONCLUSION

If you have questions or concerns about a family law issue or feel you need legal representation in a family law matter, experienced family law attorneys  often are able to positively affect negotiations and court outcomes in a sometimes long and arduous process. To get started, call the Central Jersey law offices of Hanan M. Isaacs, P.C., at 609-683-7400, or contact us online, for a near-term reduced fee initial consultation.  We will listen to your facts, explain the law, and guide you on the best pathways to economic and social justice.  Call now.  You will be glad you did.

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