New Jersey Alimony Reform

10/06/2015

Holidays are coming up. Great gift for your favorite divorce lawyer. After all its how they make their money.

09/17/2015

The verdict is in- WE MADE PROGRESS. Congratulations reformers- your efforts paid off.

http://njfamilylaw.foxrothschild.com/2015/09/articles/alimony/reflections-on-the-alimony-statute-one-year-later/?utm_source=Fox+Rothschild+LLP+-+NJ+Family+Legal+Blog&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cea35108e6-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_ae2025c960-cea35108e6-70718929

Today marks the first anniversary of new alimony law. One year ago today, September 10, 2014, Governor Christie signed into law Bill A-845 which substanti

08/21/2015

Throwback Thursday (one day late). Perhaps we should be pushing for this in New Jersey? There is a beautiful simplicity in the concept that if you make marriage support payments it means "you own that thang"
and if you take marriage support payments it means you have "sold your thang"

simplichttps://www.opposingviews.com/i/world/indian-court-rules-divorced-woman-must-abstain-sex-receive-alimony

An Indian court has ruled that a divorced woman is to receive alimony from her ex-husband only if she refrains...

06/25/2015

Shouldn't the law be encouraging divorce by algorithm instead of divorce by litigation?
http://www.wnyc.org/story/what-divorce-algorithm-means-marriage/?utm_source=Newsletter%3A+WNYC+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b69d024a23-Daily_Brief_July_4_20141_26_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_edd6b58c0d-b69d024a23-69824701&mc_cid=b69d024a23&mc_eid=ced8d39f64

Why one online divorce start-up might spell change for family law writ large. In other words: Silicon Valley thinks Gwyneth Paltrow might be onto something.

06/25/2015

We can already hear the NJ divorce lawyer cash register- cha-ching, cha-ching
http://www.natlawreview.com/article/same-sex-divorces-new-jersey

On September 27, 2013, in a landmark case for the state, Garden State Equality v. Dow, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry. While Go

04/09/2015

Falling behind on child-support proves deadly for this South Carolina man, and raises civil liberties concern about the criminalization of those who are unable to pay full support. Most media outlets have ignored the real story behind this tragedy. Thank you MSNBC for your coverage. http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/how-falling-behind-child-support-can-end-jail

Walter Scott's family said he ran from the police officer who killed him out of fear of jail for falling behind in child support payments. He wasn't alone.

03/25/2015

We can't add any more to this outstanding blog. New jersey lawmakers aught to read this.

https://nationalparentsorganization.org/blog/22242-alimony-undiminished-for-dying-payer?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=National%20Parents%20Organization&utm_content=

03/09/2015

New Jersey State Bar Association attempts to rewrite the history of alimony reform in the Garden State. They succeeded in cutting out current alimony payers from benefiting from the new legislation, now they seek to erase from the history books the role that current alimony payers and their supporters played in driving the reform that was achieved. Senator Bucco was and is our ardent supporter. NJAR thanks him for his support of OUR issue. Note has to be made that both NJSBA representatives in the photo said that New Jersey alimony laws were "fine-tuned over the past 35 years for the protection of women and children." This quote comes before the new alimony laws were passed.
http://www.ocsignal.com/2015/03/bucco-receives-award-from-state-bar-association-for-sponsoring-alimony-reform-legislation/

Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris) received the 2015 Robert B. Meyner Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) for his work on alimony reform on March 9, 2015 at the State House.

03/04/2015

This is a newly published Appellate Court Case that gives the appearance that alimony law is working as it should. The disgusting aspect of this case is that even with overwhelming evidence the decision to terminate alimony rests with a trial judges sound discretion, which in this case was seriously flawed. Long story short, the alimony payer, in advanced age, frail-health, nursing home-bound, is still battling to get his alimony payments terminated. Imagine that! Disgusting! If ever there is a case to prove that judicial discretion needs to be curbed by the legislature, this one is it.

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a1800-13.pdf

02/26/2015

Bad news: This is the first indication that the newly enacted alimony reform act is not having its intended effect.

New Jersey Appellate Decision, Schlumpf v. Schlumpf, ruled that where the cohabitation arose prior to the statute’s enactment on September 10, 2014, the former law on cohabitation shall govern which provided that cohabitation alone is insufficient to terminate alimony – cohabitation must be accompanied by a substantial economic benefit resulting from the relationship.

Whether the litigants can take this to the next level is uncertain.

The good news is that if the new law is not corrective of problems with the former alimony statute, that a number of legislators have expressed a desire to enact further alimony reform legislation. It is time for the legislature to take responsibility for enacting laws and for the judiciary to return to its intended function of interpreting laws.

http://njlaw.rutgers.edu/collections/courts/appellate/a0063-13.opn.html

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Monmouth County, Docket No. FM-13-272-05.

02/15/2015

It would be interesting to know what the Family Law Section leadership thinks of this concept?
http://nypost.com/2015/02/10/i-checked-into-the-divorce-hotel-to-check-out-of-my-marriage/

02/13/2015

Isn't this the very definition of a Catch-22? The state does not want to intrude on the autonomy of the family, yet the state has just intruded on the autonomy of the family and thereby has created the problem.

"He also cited cases such as Sacharow v. Sacharow, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court held in 2003 that a parent has no fundamental right to the custody of children when another parent is given custody because neither a third party nor the state seeks to intrude on family autonomy. Such rulings serve as the basis for denying due process in custody proceedings"

http://m.njlawjournal.com/module/alm/app/nj.do #!/article/1734742261