Post-nuptial Agreements More Commonplace Says Matrimonial Lawyers’ Group

Didn’t get a prenup? There may still be time to get a post-nuptial agreement, a post-wedding day option to protect personal assets that’s growing in popularity nationwide, especially among women. According to a recent poll of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyer (AAML) members, more than half of divorce attorneys (51 percent) cite an increase in post-nuptial agreements over the past three years; 36 percent of these same lawyers report an increase in wives initiating the requests. Read more

Are You Sure Your Former Spouse Is Remarried?

When an ex-wife or ex-husband who receives spousal support remarries, it almost always means an end to alimony payments. But before you stop the checks, check the marriage license, because, as this case proves, staging an elaborate wedding doesn’t always mean that an actual marriage took place. Read more

Chad Johnson Refuses to Sign Divorce Papers: Can This Really Halt the Divorce Process?

NFL Pro-bowler Chad Johnson isn’t willing to let go of his marriage to estranged wife Evelyn Lozada, even though the Basketball Wives star recently served him with divorce papers. According to TMZ, Johnson (formerly known as Chad Ochocinco) has reportedly vowed not to participate in any divorce proceedings or sign divorce papers in the hopes he can still win back Lozada. Read more

New Jersey Bill Questions Conscionability in Prenuptial Agreements

prenup agreements New Jersey - conscionability
A bill under consideration in the New Jersey legislature (S-2151) will dramatically change how premarriage and precivil union contracts, also known as prenuptial agreements, are evaluated and enforced in the state. Presently, the courts determine the justness of a prenup at the time the couple seek their divorce, allowing for modifications in certain cases where health or financial circumstances have changed for spouses. Under the new bill, judges would be required to evaluate prenups for conscionability as of the date they were executed, which may be decades before the divorce. What are the pros and cons of the bill? What could this mean for your prenup? Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Group, LLC attorney Carmela Novi offers information and thoughts on how this possible new law might affect your divorce proceedings: Read more

Jennie Garth Attributes Weight Loss to Post-Divorce Stress

Jennie Garth has kept a low profile since announcing her split from actor husband Peter Facinelli this past March — which may be why the 90210 actress had tongues wagging she showed up at a recent movie opening looking very thin. Jennie owned up to her sudden slimdown, blaming her weight loss since March on her divorce, US magazine reports. Read more

Essex County Divorce Trials Back On! Now What?

Eight months after being halted in Essex County, divorce trials are now slated to resume in the state’s busiest courthouse starting September 1, 2012. Trials were first suspended in December 2011 due to New Jersey’s ongoing judge shortage crisis. With careful maneuvering, however, and the use of temporary judges from other counties, Essex County has winnowed it’s vacancy rate down to just 10 open spots among its allowed 44 judges.

This is welcome news, but it looks like divorcing couples in Essex County waiting for their litigated and/or contested divorce to proceed still need to have patience when it comes to having their day in court. Read more

How Do You Announce That You’re Getting A Divorce?

When it comes to the tangled web that is your personal social network (the offline one as well as your online network of friends), how do you go about announcing your divorce? Breaking the news is different, of course, depending on whether you’re talking to your parents, your coworkers, casual acquaintances, the kids’ teachers, or that nosy next door neighbor — but how do you do it? Consider this triage approach to spreading the news. Read more

Getting Top Dollar for Household Items Sold During Divorce

As part of your divorce settlement, the decision was made to liquidate certain household assets and split the proceeds. So where do you go to get top dollar for things like paintings and art work, antiques, and other jointly owned valuables and collectibles? If you have items to unload, here are some people and places that can help maximize your money: Read more

Lessons from the Holmes-Cruise Divorce

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise reached a settlement agreement in their headline-making divorce only 11 days after Katie filed in New York to end the marriage. The contents of the agreement are confidential, but the statement released by Katie’s legal team, “We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life,” seems to be a telltale sign that the actress got exactly what she wanted. How did she do it? Here are three key ways Katie’s approach to divorce was incredibly smart: Read more

Celebrity Divorce: Does Katie Holmes Meet State Residency Requirements?

We’re watching the Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise divorce unfold just like everyone else and will no doubt have much to say on the topic in upcoming posts. But for now, we’ve decided to put aside issues of religion and prenuptial agreements, to focus on one seemingly small issue that may have a big impact on Katie Holmes’ divorce filing: state residency requirements. Read more