Your Wedding Day: Are You Ready For The Legal Changes Marriage Brings?

Couple holding hands

Throughout the month of May, we will be posting a special blog series on marriage-related legal issues, including prenuptial agreements, reconciliation agreements, and more. Please check back each week for tips and advice that can help you boost your marital savvy!

With the spring and summer New Jersey wedding season about to begin, many engaged couples are spending the next few weeks and months busily preparing for the big day. If you’re getting married anytime soon, in addition to things like finalizing invitation lists and reception menus, you may be wondering what you should be doing right now to get ready for the realities of marriage, including the legal changes that take place after you both say “I do.” Read more

What Happens to Student Loan Debt During a Divorce?

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During a divorce, the matter of dividing a couple’s marital debts is given just as much weight as dividing their assets. While “marital debt” usually translates for most couples to mean debt from credit cards, for a growing number of college-educated spouses, there is another issue to contend with: student loan debt. Just what happens to student loans during a divorce? Read more

Judge Gives Engagement Ring to Woman Based On Break Up Text

iStock_000005823202SmallThanks to the ruling of a NY judge, a broken off engagement has resulted in one woman being able to keep her $53,000 engagement ring over the protests of her former fiancé, the NY Daily News reports. Read more

How to Protect Your Finances in a Divorce

iStock_000018458248MediumNo matter how amicable (or not) a split your divorce is shaping up to be, it’s completely normal to be concerned with how best to safeguard your financial future as you move forward into your new life. How do you go about protecting your finances during a separation or divorce? Here are six basic steps: Read more

Senate Panel Approves Bill To Cut Off New Jersey Child Support At Age 19

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Is New Jersey child support about to undergo a fundamental change? With bill S-1046, allowing for the end of child support payments once the child reaches the age of 19 recently advanced by a Senate Judiciary panel, we appear to be one step closer.

Update July 23, 2015: The New Jersey Senate approved bill S-1046 by a vote of 31-2.  The bill must still be acted on by the Assembly and signed by Gov. Chris Christie to become law.

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Thinking Ahead: The Power of a Prenup

iStock_000016304397SmallWith spring almost here, wedding season is on the way. If your nuptials will take place sometime in the coming months, have you taken a moment to think about the road ahead, after the ceremony and honeymoon, when “real life” as a married couple begins? It is always the hope that the stage will be set for marital bliss, but it’s also prudent to take some realistic steps towards making sure you are protected and “insured” no matter what the future brings. Read more

Extracurricular Activities, Graduate School on the Line in New Jersey Child Support Decisions

In New Jersey, two recently decided court cases show just far-reaching state family law is concerning the burden of parents to pay child support costs, especially in the area of education. Read more

Questions Arise: What is Constructive Abandonment in the Rachel Canning Case

iStock_000016363488SmallDevelopments in the Rachel Canning case continue to have New Jersey parents, and indeed, parents throughout the entire country, scratching their heads in bewilderment. The court has ordered both parties to provide trial briefs discussing “constructive emancipation” and “constructive abandonment.”

What do these terms mean? As we recently discussed, New Jersey courts haven’t generally used the term “constructive emancipation,” but courts in some other states, including New York, have. Looking at interpretations in those states, we can at least understand how Rachel Canning’s case hinges on whether or not she is emancipated (whether constructively or otherwise). Read more

Same-Sex Couples in New Jersey: Are Both Divorce and Dissolution Necessary?

Same-sex marriage has been legal in New Jersey since a groundbreaking ruling in October 2013 paved the way for marriage equality. But what about same-sex divorce? As family law attorney Bari Weinberger points out in her new article for the New Jersey Law Journal, some lingering questions and legally ambiguous situations may face some same-sex couples who decide to split up. Read more

Terrell Owens: Two Week Marriage Ends Over Financial Concerns

At the height of his NFL career, professional football player Terrell Owens was worth an estimated $70 million. However, in 2011, Owens told a judge in a Family Court dispute that a series of financial set backs had essentially left him broke. At the time, he was paying $125,000 a month in child support and mortgage payments to the four mothers of his four children.

The latest wrinkle in Terrell Owens’ money problems? A two week marriage that has already ended in claims that “T.O.” was trying to financially defraud new wife Rachel Snider into obtaining a mortgage and putting a down payment on a $2 million home. Read more