Updated September 30, 2021

In New Jersey, an act of domestic violence happens every 7.29 minutes. Domestic violence does not discriminate: It can be found in both straight and LGBT relationships, and victims can be either female or male.

All victims of domestic abuse deserve to be safeguarded.

Bari Weinberger, our firm’s founder and managing partner, has made it her mission to help domestic violence survivors find the safety they and their children deserve.

Please use the free tools and downloads Bari and our team have developed to start building a safer future. We have a free book, presentation, a free safety plan, and more.  Help is here for you. If you know a loved one who may be experiencing abuse, or you work for a domestic violence shelter or agency New Jersey, we ask that you share this information with anyone who may need it.

NJ Domestic Violence Hotline: 1 (800) 572-SAFE (7233)

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1(800) 799-7233

If you are in immediate danger, please call 911. 

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High-conflict divorce feels like living in an emotional war zone. Relentless legal entanglements, hostile communication, and combative attempts at co-parenting can overload your stress response system and put you in a near constant state of hyperarousal. You’re always waiting for the next bomb to go off, and it seems like one always does.

With all this stress, high conflict divorce can put your mental and physical health at risk. Before it can, take back control with these five key coping skills and strategies.  Read more

The big news in divorce as the New Year begins? Starting January 1, 2019, a significant change in how alimony payments are treated under federal tax law goes into effect. As part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (aka “Trump Tax”), spouses who pay alimony must now claim alimony payments on their federal tax returns as taxable income; spouses who receive alimony are not required to claim alimony as income and receive this money tax-free. 

The new tax change represents a complete reversal of the old federal code in which paying spouses deducted alimony from their income as a tax break, while recipient spouses were required to claim payments as taxable income. Any alimony order put in place on or before December 31, 2018, is grandfathered in under these old rules.    

If you are currently going through a divorce that involves alimony, or are pursuing temporary alimony during a separation, you will need to grapple with these new tax implications. If you are the paying spouse, you probably want to know… is there anything I can to avoid this extra tax burden? If you are the receiving spouse, your main question may be… what can I do if my spouse low balls alimony in our divorce negotiations? 

Bari Weinberger took a deeper look at alimony negotiations under the new tax law in her piece for the New Jersey Law Journal: The 2019 Alimony Tax Change Is Here — But Is It Fair? She described how changing tax rules will necessarily mean changing tactics in reaching an alimony agreement. 

Here are 3 takeaways for your own alimony negotiations.  Read more