Florham Park New Jersey Family Law Blog

If your divorce is not already finalized, you will probably be affected by the new laws which will change how alimony is taxed. Alimony, which is sometimes called spousal support, is a payment one spouse is sometimes ordered to pay the other spouse after divorce. Starting in 2019, alimony will no longer be tax-deductible for the payer or taxable for the receiver.

This tax change has caused many couples to rush to have their divorces finalized before the end of 2018, so the new laws will not apply. However, it will not be possible for every divorcing couple to meet this deadline, though this may not be a bad thing. A recent news article noted that the new tax laws do not have to have a negative effect on your divorce if you incorporate some clever planning on other areas of your finances.

If you are a New Jersey couple or individual seeking to adopt a child from a foreign country, you should know that it can be a very complicated process since you must comply not only with the laws of the United States but the laws of the country from which you attend to adopt. 

According to FindLaw, The Hague Adoption Convention has been in place since April 2008 and is an international treaty that establishes a process of international adoption intended to safeguard the best interests of all parties, the adoptive and birth parents as well as the child. Thus, a "Hague adoption" is an international adoption in which the parties meet eligibility requirements and follow the process set forth in The Hague Adoption Convention. In a Hague adoption, both the child and the adoptive parents must reside in countries that are part of the Hague convention, which includes the United States and over 90 other countries.

One of the hardest parts of a divorce is dealing with parenting issues. Having tow separate homes can make things more difficult. That is why the courts in New Jersey want you to work together with your ex-spouse to create a parenting plan that outlines your visitation and custody. If you follow the plan, things should go smoothly and everyone should be happy. However, issues do come up. Two common issues are interference and not using parenting time.

According to the New Jersey Courts, interference is a severe issue. It involves the other parent trying to prevent you from seeing your child. This may be not adhering to the visitation schedule and bringing the child to you for your scheduled parenting time or it could be not returning the child at the end of parenting time. The first step in dealing with this is to go through mediation and get to the bottom of what is going on and why this is happening. If that does not help, you can file an incident report or a criminal complaint.

When high-asset couples divorce, the likelihood of spousal support factoring into the process is high. Because of the tax reform law passed last year, how this support affects income taxes will change.

If you are seeking a divorce and will either be paying or receiving alimony, one question you likely have is “will I have to pay taxes on this income?” If your divorce is finalized this year, the answers is yes if you are the recipient and no if you are the payer. If you finalize your divorce after December 31, 2018, the inverse is true.