New Jersey Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

It is the duty of the executor to gather the property, pay the debts and distribute what remains according to the Will.  This includes evicting whoever lives on the property so that it can be sold.  You might want to ask the executor to accompany you to the property to remove your personal belongings.... Read More

If the employees were still contractually bound to be employed by another employer (which would be a little unusual; most employment agreements, except for those at the higher levels of the business, are terminable at will), they would breach their contracts by becoming employed elsewhere.  If the new employer hired them knowing that they were contractually bound to be employed elsewhere, it would have committed tortious interference with contract, and be liable to the first employer for any damages sustained from that wrongdoing.... Read More

The last action rule generally has to do with approvals and not denials. If you are already approved for a change of status on your H-1B, an L-2 denial should have no effect since you are already holding a valid legal status. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Thank you for your question. SSDI is considered as income on the Child Support Guidelines worksheets and is factored in to the parents’ child support obligations.  If a child is receiving derivative benefits, that will count as a credit towards the non-custodial spouse’s child support obligation.   In terms of whether the court correctly applied credits, we would need to see more information, including the child support guidelines worksheets calculations with supporting documentation and any court order, and we would encourage you to schedule an appointment for a consultation.  ... Read More

Thank you for your question. Every divorce is different and divorce costs vary based on the issues present in the divorce and whether or not you will need to go to court or can settle out of court. The best way to understand how much your divorce will cost is to consider the level of conflict present and the number of contested issues. Are you and your spouse on reasonable enough terms that you could work through your issues out of court? Are you already in agreement over issues such as what will happen to the house and custody of your kids? If yes, then costs can generally be minimized. The best way to estimate the costs of your divorce is to meet with an attorney who can go over your case and give you an estimate of what to expect. I hope this information was helpful to you. ... Read More

You should have a consultation with a divorce law specialist instead of trying to figure out where you are at and what your rights/obligations are as a result of your wife's actions. The fact that she spent money to furnish an apartment to move into, does not mean that the expense is a legitimate marital expense to be divided in a divorce. Yet, if she was moving out and left you with all of the furniture and furnishings in the house, then maybe the expense is legitimate since she might have been entitled to share in those items in the house. When you meet with a family law attorney, he can review with you the expense information to discuss how it should be viewed and whether that expense can be off set against her interest in other assets ( ie retirement account). During your meeting, you need to discuss custody and parenting time issues as well as her obligation for the payment of child support. ... Read More

Offenses against the law are important in naturalization cases since applicants must prove good moral character for the length of time required following the green card to file the N-400 application. Generally traffic offenses should not prevent individuals from obtaining naturalization if the applicants are qualified in all other respects. The fact that you have four traffic offenses may be looked at more carefully, but I imagine that four over a period of three years can probably be overlooked. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

It appears that you have two questions. First, the trustee/beneficiary of a revocable living trust pays taxes on the earnings of the assets in the trust just as if she held them directly.  When she dies, the trust becomes irrevocable and the trust pays the taxes (at compressed brackets and so higher rates). Second, it appears that you do qualify for Medicare home health care if you need nursing, physical or speech and language therapy.  Please talk with your doctor.  Your state might also have a Medicaid waiver program for which you qualify.  You can discuss this with your local Area Agency on Aging or with an elder lawyer.  To find an elder lawyer near you, see the website of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (www.naela.org).... Read More

The answer depends upon the circumstances. Normally, the five year difference in ages, with the younger person being under the age of consent, would create issues. If there were a supervisory role of the 19 year old with regard to the 13 year old, the situatuion would worsen. If the kiss was part of the TIK TOK 'act' and done with adult supervision, the situation would be different and not criminal in nature. One would need to review the underlying circumstances. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600... Read More

You must work closely with the Drug Court personnel and be pro-active with regard to any issues and alert them to potential problems. By way of example, you must alert them to any potential changes in medication or treatment. You must have them work clodely with your treating physician. We work very clsoely with the Drug Court team to avoid any potential issues. Please call if we can help you with Drug Court. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600 ext 235... Read More

Your question is not a simple one. 2 years ago, DCPP took physical custody of a child away from the primary custodial parent because of her abuse and neglect (drug use and its impact on the child) and gave physical custody of the child to the other parent. Apparently things changed and the 2 of you began living together again - meaning the parent with the drug issue is in the house with the child and DCPP is concerned about the potential for abuse and neglect of the child as a result of same and because you are allowing her to remain in the house with the child, there is concern for your judgement. If your plan is to continue to live with the parent doing drugs, then you need to present a comprehensive plan to DCPP to show them that the child is protected from the other parent ( ie that parent is never left alone with the child) and that the other parent is in a drug treatment program and is in compliance with all of the testing obligations of the program. You will also need to show how you are taking appropriate steps to ensure the child’s safety on a day to day basis. ... Read More

The short answer is that there is case law in NJ that says that a child can graduate from high school and need a year to get his act together; during which year, the child can be deemed emancipated and then go to college and then be deemed unemanciapted. In your setting, he graduated from high school but only went to college part time for 2 years, during which his father paid child support and now the plan is for him to go to college full time and therefore you are opposing your ex's application to deem him emancipated. Your opposition to your ex's application must explain in detail with as much documentation as possible as to why your son was only going to college part time and whether his father knew he was going only part time and why the plan is for him to now go full time. I would also make sure that you include the classes taken by him, his GPA and proof that he is going to college now full time with documents from the school confirming same. Simply saying it without supporting paperwork will not suffice for the court. Also, dont think that you are simply going to walk into court and tell the judge your position. You must file written opposition to his application and you must attach all of your exhibits and provide a complete story. For purposes of your opposition, you have 25 pages available to you ( not considering exhibits) to write and explain why he was only going part time, etc and you will need all 25 pages to type out your response. ... Read More

You need to put the buyer on written notice at the proper address by regular mail and certified mail with registered receipt of the need for the buyer to pick up the boat and set a reasonable deadline. Please keep the registerd receipt for proof that buyer signed for the registered mail. The key is proper notice to the buyer. Ed Dimon, Esq. ... Read More

The key to winning is a multitude of efforts which include the 2 points for the defensive driving course and a wriiten explanation of your circumstances as to why you should not lose your license and character letters from 'first responders' etc. The key to success is the 'complete package'. Please call asap to discuss. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600 ext 235... Read More

If you and he agreed that he would pay for specific expenses for the children, then everything agreed upon needs to be in a writing submitted to the court so that it is clear what he is to pay for. If its not in a writing as part of the submission to the court, he can later claim that he never agreed to pay for those expenses and a judge will be hardpressed to impose an obligation that you say he agreed to and he says he never agreed to do so.  Separately, you and he NEED to run the child support guidelines as part of the divorce process so that the court and both of you know exactly what he was obligated to pay under the guidelines. You and he have the right to deviate from those guidelines, but for court purposes, it is required to be submitted and referenced to the court. The guidelines identify your income from all sources, his income from all sources, who is paying for the childrens share of  health insurance coverage ( and the actual amount for their share of the coverage) and the number of overnights the kids will be with him over the course of the year( i.e - if he has them every other weekend from friday to sunday, then he has 2 overnights in a 14 day cycle or 52 overnights for the year).  ... Read More

The best way to understand how to proceed is to sit down with an estate law specialist ( not a general practice lawyer who also handles estate issues) and let him / her review the terms of the will to see if the estate is responsible for the payment of taxes on transfers of assets or whether it is your husbands responsibility to pay for any tax liabilites. Since I dont know your father in laws asset structure or the terms of the will / estate plan, its impossible and inappropriate for me or any other lawyer to tell you whether there is or is not a tax issue. Again, best way to handle it is to schedule a consultation with an estate law specialist - it is worth the expense of the consultation for peace of mind. ... Read More

The officer can testify to your condition and this may be sufficient to support the conviction. By way of example, if the officer has been trained to observe change of behavior based upon drug use, the officer can testify that there was drug use. The last three cases we have done did not involve alcohol. Please call immediately to discuss. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600... Read More

The key is the company response. Did they have the employee remove the material from the Internet ? Has there been inappropriate behavior at work which has been the subject of a complaint ? The company has to be put on notice and the company must then respond. These are fact sensitive cases. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600 ... Read More