Blogs

On April 21, 2022, New Jersey dispensaries began selling cannabis for recreational purposes. While “weed” is legal in New Jersey recreationally, it is still illegal to drive while “stoned” – which begs the question, how does a police officer determine if a driver is operating a vehicle while impaired from “weed” consumption? Unlike the 0.08 […]

One shortcoming of the family law system in the division of marital assets is that all assets that fit within the “pot” for equitable distribution in the event of a divorce are assigned a fixed value and treated equally (including retirement assets and current assets). Retirement savings are some of the largest assets subject to […]

Almost everyone who has gone through a divorce knows that QDROs (qualified domestic relations orders) are used to divide specific retirement assets between spouses in a divorce. And, “some people” who have gone through a divorce have also been forced to deal with a former spouse who refuses to comply with court orders, regardless of […]

Not all states require divorce mediators to be certified or accredited. In fact, New Jersey is one of those states where there currently are no licensing requirements to hang out a shingle to be a Divorce Mediator. Not too long ago, I had a conversation with an accountant, who told me that he was a […]

As a general rule, all assets acquired during the marriage are presumed to fall within the pot for equitable distribution in a divorce, but there are exceptions. One of those exceptions is the receipt of employment related stock options or restricted stock units, which “vest” or become available for distribution after the divorce filing and […]

In a divorce, can you recoup monies “pissed away” by a spouse on things unrelated to the marriage or can you hold a spouse accountable for specific debts incurred in advance of a divorce filing? Or, what if your spouse hid assets during the marriage. Can you recoup those monies in a divorce? The answer […]

Unfortunately, one of the most commonly fought battles in the New Jersey family court system concerns the college selection process / how much each parent should contribute to the cost of their child[rens] college education. Stereo-typically, the language of most divorce agreements in dealing with future college costs is something along the following lines: Both […]

On March 8, 2022, In Moynihan v. Lynch, the New Jersey Supreme Court addressed whether a written “palimony agreement” entered between unmarried cohabitants could be enforced if the parties had not met with an attorney prior to signing it? The 2nd issue presented was whether an “oral” palimony claim could still be advanced in a […]

Mr. Manley should have sat down with a divorce lawyer BEFORE he decided to hire a private investigator to discuss what proofs his investigator needed to obtain information for purposes of completing the report, and the lawyer involved should have read the actual report by the investigator to confirm that, substantively, the proofs required are […]