Florham Park New Jersey Family Law Blog

Many people in New Jersey who get divorced or know someone who gets divorced may often wonder what type of factors contribute to a successful or a non-successful marriage. There may be no single, definitive answer to that but there are different surveys and research outcomes that provide some interesting insights about divorce trends.

As reported by MarketWatch, there is a body of information that suggests the earning capacity of each spouse in a traditional heterosexual marriage may contribute to the likelihood of a couple getting divorced or staying married. Data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that more than one in three wives earns more money than their husbands earn. This fact may not seem significant when it comes to the stability of a marriage but it just might well be very important.

If you have unvested stock, a recent ruling from the New Jersey Appellate Division could have a big impact on your divorce.

New Jersey is an “equitable distribution” state. This means when a couple gets divorced, the courts try to divide all their marital assets as fairly and evenly as possible. However, the ruling called into question whether all stocks should be considered marital assets.

According to LiveAbout, prior to 1993, New Jersey's grandparent visitation statute only granted grandparents visitation rights when the parents were divorced, separated or deceased. However, that year the courts removed all three stipulations, thereby allowing grandparents to sue for visitation of children living in nuclear families. This was a win for grandparents but a short-lived one. In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a fit parent who cut off the relationship between a child and grandparent is presumed to have acted in the best interests of the child. Since that decision, the courts have called into question the constitutionality of New Jersey's grandparent visitation laws on several occasions.  

Prior to the 2000 ruling, grandparents such as yourself who seek visitation rights needed only to prove by a preponderance of evidence that visitation was in the best interests of the child. To determine best interests, the courts would consider several factors, including but not limited to the following:

•       The relationships between the child and the grandparent and the grandparent and each of the child's parents
•       The time elapsed since the child's last contact with the grandparent
•       How a grandparent's visitation rights might affect the relationship between the child and his or her parents
•       The grandparent's "good faith" in filing the application
•       Whether or not the grandparent was a full-time caretaker in the past

By: Lauren E. Sharp

The FD or "Non-Dissolution" Docket is considered by some to be the more "relaxed" version of the FM "Dissolution" docket. However, this characterization was denounced in a recently published New Jersey Appellate Division case, J.G. v. J.H. Specifically, in J.G., the Appellate Division found that the nature of a dispute, rather than the docket designation, should guide judges when determining the resources required to make a determination.

In J.G. v. J.H., the unmarried parents of John, a minor, entered into a consent order whereby they agreed to share joint legal custody of John with J.G. (Jane) having primary residential custody and J.H. (Joseph) given parenting time. Subsequently, the parties briefly reconciled and the consent order was vacated. After the parties' reconciliation ended, Jane began a new relationship and ultimately became engaged. Subsequent to her engagement, Joseph filed an Order to Show Cause requesting sole custody of John claiming that Jane's fiancé was a convicted felon and drug user and he was worried about John's safety.