In New York, a Brooklyn Appellate Court panel has ruled that Peter Petrakis, a successful real estate investor, “fraudulently induced” his wife, Elizabeth, to sign a prenuptial agreement four days before their wedding. In a move that’s being hailed as precedent-setting, the prenup has now been thrown out and the couple’s divorce will proceed without the financial stipulations the document had outlined. Read more
As we discuss at greater length in our Guide to Military Divorce, child custody arrangements and parenting plans require special flexibility when one or both parents are in the service of the U.S. military. Deployments can be unpredictable and sometimes involve short notice. Families are called on to make difficult adjustments. No parent should have to worry that serving the country carries a risk of losing custody or parenting time. In recent years, many states have addressed these challenges by enacting specific laws addressing custody arrangements for children with a parent in the military. New Jersey has now joined this growing group of states. Read more
Not too long ago, we blogged about a very practical topic: “Getting Top Dollar for Household Items Sold During Divorce.” We covered things like how to post used books for sale on Amazon and how to work with an estate auctioneer to sell off furniture, artwork, antiques, collectables, and other items whose proceeds are typically split by a divorcing couple. One item we didn’t think to address? How to get top dollar for your…baseball team. Yet, this is exactly what Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and his ex-wife Jamie McCourt are now wrangling over — two years after their divorce. Read more
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
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
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
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
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
After news broke Saturday that Mark Zuckerberg wed longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan in a quiet backyard ceremony just a day after the Facebook CEO took his company public to the tune of $104 billion, it has quickly become the status update everyone wants to know: did the couple sign a pre-nuptial agreement before taking their vows? Read more
Ending a marriage is never easy. But opting for divorce is made even more complicated by the outdated and sometimes incomprehensible laws still in the books. Divorce is even illegal in some parts of the world, making it all the more traumatic to obtain. While getting a divorce is often considered a sad upheaval in the lives of the people it affects, it can be made even stranger by some of the laws that still exist today. Read more
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