I am often asked how prevalent is mediation and ADR (alternative dispute resolution) in divorces. A recent ABA article surprised me with this statistic: 93% of divorcing couples utilized a method of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) The details on most divorces are...
As I’ve mentioned previously, judge shortages in NJ Superior Courts plus COVID delays have created significant backlogs in cases. In seven NJ counties (Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester, Somerset, Hunterdon, Warren, and Passaic) the judge shortages were so severe...
I’ve spoken before about religious issues in divorces. They can be contentious. What about religious issues regarding children in divorces (or when a child is born to unwed parents)? Parents from different religions or even different religious traditions...
I’ve written before about NJ law around cohabitation and ending alimony. Basically, if a recipient of alimony enters into a relationship that looks like marriage but isn’t formalized into a marriage — cohabitation — alimony can be terminated. ...
ChatGPT is all the rage these days. Ask it a question and it gives you an answer. But use it at your own risk, as some New York attorneys recently discovered. If you are unfamiliar, ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence that is largely free to use. It is still a work...
Most marriages in the U.S. are “for love.” meaning that the couple has chosen each other to marry. Presumably, they met, dated, fell in love, and then decided to marry. In contrast, many cultures have arranged marriages where the parents of the children...
Gotta get a get? What exactly is a get? In a divorce involving a Jewish couple, a get is the document that grants the Jewish part of the divorce. Marriages can be both civil and religious even though we tend to conflate them by having a religious official perform...
The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates recently to counter the higher inflation the economy has seen over the past few years. How does this impact divorcing couples? The impact that most comes to mind is refinancing the marital home. One of the options...
*in some cases and now statewide The New Jersey Courts issued Directive 18-20 and updated in July 2021 and further updated in December 2022. While some counties or judges had been granting divorces without a personal appearance by the parties or their lawyers —...
I’ve written extensively about how the law looks as pets — basically as property. The NJ Supreme Court had another opportunity to revisit this concept. The outcome: pets are still property. The case is Samolyk v. Berthe III. Defendant’s dog fell into...
A mediated divorce often costs less than 1/3rd of a litigated divorce
Mediation can finalize a divorce in much less time than litigation -- months versus years
You lose none of your rights by mediating
Mediation is confidential
Make decisions about your future for yourself
Parties are more satisfied with terms they agree to in mediation than terms imposed by a court
Agreements obtained through mediation are far less likely to end up back in court
Mediation is a forward-looking process (where do you go from here)
Mediation can be used to resolve many types of disputes, including the dissolutions of gay and lesbian (same-sex) relationships, civil unions, domestic partnerships and commercial and community disputes
Mediation allows you to get on with your life more quickly
