NJ LEGAL SEPARATION & DIVORCE
New Jersey Divorce Lawyers
Contested Divorce
If there is animosity between you and your spouse, then a contested divorce is often the means by which you will terminate your marriage. The process is initiated when either you or your spouse files a Complaint for Divorce and then service of process occurs. It may make sense to see if you or your spouse can resolve some or all of the issues regarding your children, support payments or the distribution of your assets and debts. Before you initiate the process, you should speak with one of our New Jersey divorce and family law attorneys to discuss your options. Our attorneys are exclusively trained in matrimonial and family law and will help educate you about the process, your rights and obligations.
Uncontested Divorce
If you are looking to terminate your marriage but are still on good terms with your spouse, you should consider obtaining an uncontested divorce. The uncontested divorce process is generally the most amicable and cost-efficient way to dissolve your marriage and to resolve all issues regarding child custody, visitation, child support, alimony and property division.
Legal Separation
While some States have a separate filing process for legal separation, NJ handles these matters differently. To obtain legal separation status in New Jersey, there is no need to file a Complaint with the family court or to appear before a judge to discuss your marital problems. Instead, you and your spouse can simply choose to reside in separate residences and formalize an agreement as to temporary child custody, visitation and specific payments that will be made for the family, the home and the marital bills. During your separation period, you may choose to rehabilitate your relationship or move toward filing for divorce.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Simply stated, Alternative Dispute Resolution is a non-litigious way of resolving your legal differences. Alternative Dispute Resolution can include arbitration or mediation. Arbitration is a method that provides a binding decision by a professional who is trained to determine fair and equitable results after having conducted a hearing outside of the courts. Retired family law judges often best fill this roll. In contrast, mediation is a method by which you and your spouse meet with a qualified professional in a confidential setting to discuss a global resolution of all of your issues. This non-binding process allows you to have civilized discussions with your spouse in a controlled environment. Since private mediation is done outside of the court system, you and your spouse are in control of the process instead of the process being dictated by the courts. The beauty of the alternative dispute resolution process is that it can enable you and your spouse to speed up the dissolution process in an informal environment rather than leaving it up to a judge’s discretion.
Out of State, International and Military Divorces
If you or your spouse are living outside of the State of New Jersey or are actively stationed elsewhere, then you may still qualify to obtain an out of state divorce, international divorce or a military divorce in NJ. There are jurisdictional requirements that must be met in order to have NJ accept your matter and assist you in processing your Complaint. Our New Jersey divorce and legal separation lawyers can help you understand if New Jersey has jurisdiction. If the state does have jurisdiction, then our attorneys will review all available remedies for your specific situation and then map out the next course of action.
Pitfalls to Handling Your Own Divorce
If you are looking to get divorced, your initial instinct may be to conduct some independent research over the internet and then attempt to handle your own divorce. Before you move forward with this approach, you should recognize that this is a complex process that involves intricate knowledge of child custody, support and distribution laws. In our experience, we have noticed that those people who attempt to file their own divorce often make critical mistakes and overlook significant legal details which can lead to problems down the road. Many of these mistakes often require intensified legal work in order to attempt to undo the prior errors. To best protect your legal rights, you should retain the services of a lawyer whose entire legal practice is devoted exclusively to divorce, family and matrimonial law.
Questions Your Children May Have
If you and your spouse have children during the time that you are pursuing your divorce, it is inevitable that your children will have questions about what is happening to the family. They will want to know how they will be impacted both now and in the future. We would encourage you to speak to a professional about the best way to approach, educate and comfort your children, while helping them handle the upcoming changes to the family unit.
Contact us for a FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION with one of our New Jersey family and matrimonial lawyers to discuss your divorce and legal separation rights and options.
Our partner, Bari Zell Weinberger, is certified by the Supreme Court of NJ as a Matrimonial Law Attorney. This Certification is achieved by only 2% of the attorneys in New Jersey.
