Bills Before NJ Assembly Expand Rights of Children, Domestic Abuse Victims

New proposed legislation recommended this week by the state’s Assembly Judiciary Committee would create significant changes in how certain family law matters are conducted, reports the New Jersey Law Journal. What’s on tap to be voted on? One bill expands children’s right to representation in parental termination cases and the other increases privacy rights for domestic violence victims. Here’s a look at what each entails: Read more

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

Who’s Your Daddy? Mobile Paternity Truck Offers DNA Testing

A New York company called Health Street is taking DNA paternity testing to the streets of NYC in a new mobile DNA testing clinic housed in a 28-foot RV and emblazoned with the provocative slogan, Who’s Your Daddy? 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

New Book Addresses Divorce, Family Law Issues for Members of the U.S. Military

Divorces among members of the U.S. military are on the rise, making the new book, Strategies for Military Family Law, extremely relevant to members of the matrimonial and family law community. We are pleased to announce that WLG’s managing parter Bari Weinberger serves as one of the guide’s contributing authors, penning the chapter, “Getting the Best Results for a Military Family Law Client: Understanding the Nuances in this Practice Area.” Fellow WLG Attorney, Patricia Cistaro, also contributed to the chapter. Read more

NJ Psychologist Marsha Kleinman Loses License Over False Sex Abuse Claims

Marsha Kleinman, a Highland Park, New Jersey psychologist who frequently served as an expert in criminal child abuse cases has had her license to practice psychology in the state revoked and is ordered to pay a $60,000 fine for her misconduct stemming from charges that she convinced children they had been sexually abused even after they said it didn’t happen. 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