In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court opined on a case (Kennedy vs. Plan Administrator) where a divorcing husband failed to change the beneficiary on his retirement plan. His ex-wife was listed as the beneficiary despite the fact they had a divorce decree in which she was...
How does the law look at pets? Pets are owned by 68% of Americans. Traditionally, many cases have stated that pets are property, just like the couch the pets sleeps on. This offends the many people who think of their pets as children, as a part of the family. The...
Divorce is not a laughing matter, but having a sense of humor is essential to get through life in general. To that end, I present the following cartoon I saw on FaceBook.
Children like stability and routine. The younger the child, the more they need stability and routine. Divorce (or never having been together in the first place) doesn’t help with a child’s stability. That does not mean you can’t make things easier...
Most of my clients take marriage and divorce pretty seriously. It’s an emotional process not to be taken lightly. However, not everyone does. From our friends at the BBC comes this tweet: In Taiwan, workers get eight days of leave when they get married. As there...
I am honored to have been named a top ten mediation “blawg” by the ADR Times. Here’s what they said: This blog focuses on divorce mediation, specifically in New Jersey. However, the basics of divorce mediation can be useful for anyone, so the blawg...
I previously wrote about how COVID is impacting married life and divorce. I suggested that filing for an uncontested divorce using mediation being decided on the papers was the best way to go. In this post, I want to suggest another use of alternative dispute...
Divorce can be a long process. It can take years if you do not use mediation (hint, hint). So when the court finally enters the Final Judgment of Divorce, you might think that you’re finished. Not exactly. Effectuate any QDROs you received. Waiting can cause you...
COVID has certainly hit New Jersey hard. Case totals were high during the spring of 2020 and now that the cold weather has returned, the COVID case numbers are back to record numbers. One speculation was that with stay-at-home orders and limited ability to truly move...
I have written previously about how courts expect divorced spouses to maximize their incomes when it comes to alimony or child support. If a spouse fails to maximize their income, the court can impute (assume what it should be) income for that spouse. But what happens...
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
