Articles Tagged with Parenting Time

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Regardless of your faith, or lack thereof, the American holiday season is upon us. Few would disagree that Halloween is the preseason opener and Thanksgiving the actual kick-off to the holiday season.  It really doesn’t matter what you believe; you recognize these holidays and have a manner of dealing with them. Over time, the method of recognizing or ignoring holidays becomes a family tradition, one which establishes our footing in the world. When we marry, we bring these traditions with us and try to build them into our new family.  As children are born, we build these traditions around our children and the modern reality that life and career may move us far from our place of origin. Continue reading ›

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Frequently, clients come to me complaining that their spouse or partner is exposing their children to dating relationships or conversely ask what should be their response to a spouses objection. Generally I advise that one should follow a common sense approach, meaning one should look at the effect on the children and not rush to judgment automatically, contrary to the position of one’s spouse. I think it is fair to say in general that children should not be exposed to serial partners who are all introduced as mom’s or dad’s new best friend. Continue reading ›

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On January 12th 2015, the Appellate Division published its opinion in the case of Costa v. Costa.  In Costa, the parties were married in 1994 and divorced in 2006.  They had two children together, one being born in 1997 and the other in 2000.  By way of settlement agreement entered into at the time of the divorce, the parties agreed the mother would be the primary residential custodian and that they would share joint legal custody of the children. Continue reading ›

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The Appellate Division recently handed down a clear and unambiguous message to triall courts and litigators alike regarding custody disputes and how they should be handled procedurally, regardless of whether the case is pre- or post-judgment.  The case, entitled D.A. v. R.C., involved the biological parents of a fourteen (14) year old boy each seeking to be designated as the parent of primary residence approximately ten (10) years after entering into a consent order resolving all issues of custody between them.  Continue reading ›

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We all look forward to the holiday season. Traditions developed around holidays build a collective family memory that binds us together uniquely and permanently. We bring the traditions we learn in our childhoods into our marriages and incorporate them with our spouse’s traditions into a new hybrid tradition. We do this generation to generation creating traditions and cementing the family across generations. Continue reading ›

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On August 6, 2014, the Appellate Division published the decision in KAF v. DLM., in which the Court clarified the standard that family courts are to apply when considering applications by a third party seeking custody and/or visitation and claims that he or she is a “psychological parent” to a child who already has fit and involved legal parent(s). Continue reading ›

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newbornIn a November, 2013 decision published on March 10th of this year, in what appears to be the first decision of its kind not only in New Jersey but in the United States, a Superior Court judge in the matter of Plotnick v. Delucca held that an expectant mother is not required to notify the child’s father when she goes into labor, nor is she required to allow him into the delivery room to witness the child’s birth. Continue reading ›

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In a recently published opinion, dated February 19, 2014, the Appellate Division analyzed and reversed a trial court’s decision declining to gavelexercise jurisdiction pursuant to New Jersey’s version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (commonly referred to as UCCJEA).  In this particular case, designated S.B. v. G.M.B., the trial court made a determination  to decline jurisdiction, in favor of the courts of Ontario, Canada, despite the fact that this relief was not specifically requested by either party.  Continue reading ›

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file2491276174298Way back in May of this year, I wrote the initial post for this blog concerning the protection of an unborn child of the victim of domestic violence based upon the published decision, B.C. v. T.G., penned by the Honorable Lawrence R. Jones, J.S.C., from the Chancery Division – Family Part in Ocean County.  In June of this year, the Legislature introduced a bill, A-4244, which sought to codify the protection afforded to the unborn child of a domestic violence victim by Judge Jones’ published decision. Continue reading ›

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Custody disputes can sometimes remind me of the Biblical story of King Solomon (1 Kings 3:16-28).   In this story, King Solomon is tasked withcustody2 resolving an argument between two women in the same household, each of whom claimed to be the mother of an infant son.  Continue reading ›