Co-parenting children when parents are separated or divorced can be challenging in normal circumstances. One would agree, however, that times are not normal. The country is in the midst of a pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus. Governor Murphy has closed schools and many business, and he has directed that…
Various blogs have been written by members of our firm about situations where a custodial parents wants to move with the parties’ children to a state other than New Jersey. Can a custodial parent live wherever he/she wants within the State of New Jersey? Can a non-custodial parent ask a…
In enacting New Jersey statute, N.J.S.A. 9:2-2, the Legislature established a mechanism and procedure for a divorced or unmarried parent when seeking to move with one’s children outside the state of New Jersey. The statute provides: “When the Superior Court has jurisdiction over the custody and maintenance of the minor…
It is not uncommon as a family law practitioner to experience a difference in the way the family courts handle cases involving the children of divorced or divorcing spouses (where they are matrimonial cases bearing an “FM” docket number) in the dissolution unit, and children of non-married parents in the…
A frequent post-divorce concern or criticism often heard from the parent who has primary residential custody of child is that their former partner does not exercise their parenting time and that the failure of their partner to keep to the schedule has negative monetary and lifestyle implications. I have always viewed a…
For the third time since 2012, the New Jersey lawmakers have passed legislation that would allow persons to enter into gestational carrier agreements; namely for the intended parents to enter into a contract with a woman 21 years of age or older to become pregnant by assisted reproductive technology…
How does the law define what constitutes a parent and who is a parent? According to New Jersey’s Parentage Act, a “parent and child relationship” is “the legal relationship existing between a child and the child’s natural or adoptive parents, incident to which the law confers or imposes rights, privileges,…
When custody disputes arise, I often consider the Biblical narrative, 1 Kings 3:16-28, which tells the story of how King Solomon resolved a custody dispute of sorts between two women who lived in the same home. The women came before King Solomon, each claiming to be the mother of the…
More and more women are choosing to exclusively breastfeed given the reports as to the superior health benefits, not just physically but psychologically, of breast feeding. Arranging parenting time between divorced or separated parents of a child who is still breastfeeding poses issues not just with overnight parenting time but…
In the case of Slawinski v. Nicholas, 448 N.J. Super. 25 (App. Div. 2016), the Appellate Division addressed a dispute involving parents who entered into a consent order establishing rights to grandparent visitation but then later wished to abrogate those rights. In this case, a motion was brought by the mother…