Here are the ten most-read posts on the blog in 2017: Derek Jeter and Hannah Davis Engaged…Is there a Prenup? Does Cohabitation End or Suspend Alimony? Does Living Together Count in Length of Marriage? along with the answer in Does Living Together Count in Length of...
[Updated on 2/14/18] Congress recently passed a tax reform bill that the president signed into law. This isn’t a tax blog but a family law and divorce blog primarily for New Jersey. So let’s discuss how the tax reform might impact divorcing...
[Updated on 12/4/2017 for the NJ Supreme Court’s Decision] Relocation of a child with a custodial parent is one of the most challenging elements of a divorce (or post-judgment action in a divorce). If the noncustodial parent objects to the relocation (or...
My divorce mediation clients come from all different professions, from teachers to high-level corporate VPs. Are there professions that have higher and lower divorce rates? A study of U.S. Census data by statistician Nathan Yau seems to indicate that there is. Here...
Before civil unions, same sex couples could enter into a formal arrangement through New Jersey’s Domestic Partnership (DPA) Act/law. The DPA gave certain rights and obligations to the couple entering the domestic partnership. In 2007, NJ enacted a Civil Union...
The Unwanted Divorce In many of the divorces I mediate, it is clear to me that one party wants the divorce far more than the other. Or certainly, one is further down the road of acceptance than the other. In NJ, public policy is that we do not force people to remain...
“Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.” — Norman Cousins (1915 – 1990), American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate. One of the goals of mediation is to anticipate consequences of the decisions the...
NJ Superior Court Judge Marcia L. Silva, sitting in Middlesex County, recently ruled on a case of first impression regarding when a transgender minor child may change their name. The case is Sacklow v. Betts (FM-12-1502-07C) and the case was published by the court on...
Whenever anything negative happens to you, there is a deep lesson within it, although you may not see it at the time. — Eckhart Tolle (b. 1948), German author and spiritualist
“It isn’t where you came from, it’s where you’re going that counts.” — Ella Fitzgerald (1917 – 1996), American Jazz Singer Mediation is a forward-looking process — we worry less about what happened and more about how to...
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
