New Jersey Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Thank you for your question. Given the short term of your marriage alimony is not really an option for you. As to the assets you may be entitled to a percentage of the marital assets you and your husband acquired during the marriage. However since you have not lived in NJ for a full year and are now back in Canada you do not have jurisdiction to file for divorce in NJ unless your Husband has resided in NJ for a year or longer. You would benefit from scheduling a video or phone consult with a family law attorney to discuss your options. ... Read More

I will assume that if USCIS has not yet made an adjudication and if your petition is still with the agency, it is either at the California Service Center which is a backlog between 9-12 years or the Vermont Service Center with backlog between 8 ½-11 years. I suggest that you try a couple of more times by yourself and if you have no success, you can reach out to the USCIS ombudsman’s office or to your local congressman or senator’s office as they have liaison staff with USCIS and could quite possibly find out and tell you the status of your case. 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

The most recent NJ Appellate Court decision on this issue is Mandelbaum vs Mandelbaum, where the husband claimed that the parties were not properly married and therefore wife was not entitled to benefits of their 20+ year marriage. The trial and the appellate courts disagreed with the husband and said that a court of equity will not permit the husband to disavow wife's entitlement to the benefits of their marriage ( ie alimony, equitable distribution, etc). The fact that your husband wants to annul your marriage does not mean that you have to agree to it. My suggestion is that you have a consultatoin with a family law specialist to discuss your rights. If you would like to schedule a consultation with one of the partners in Diamond & Diamond, please call Angela at 973-379-9292 to arrange it.... Read More

The best way to handle this issue is to have a formal writing between you and the biological mother and step father, where they agree in a writing that they are waiving all claims to child support from you and that they will waive all claims for all child support arrears and that they will direct the probation department to vacate all arrears from the account and close out the probation department account. Absent a formal writing signed by all parties that directs the probation department to vacate any claim of arrears and to close out its account will not get rid of the arrearages outstanding. If the adoption is finalized, from that date forward, the probation department will acknowledge that it cannot continue to collect child support but unless directed to vacate all arrears up to that point, those arrears will remain and be collected. You must have a formal writing signed by you, the bioliogiocal mother and the step father and it must be in numbered paragragh form telling them exactly what is taking place - they are not going to accept your claims or even what you say they agreed upon - if it is not in a writing and signed, they cannot simply accept it.  ... Read More

Thank you for your question about restraining orders in New Jersey.  I am so sorry you are going through this difficult time.   A restraining order prohibits your Husband from contacting you, or any other third party, as his request.  However, it may be permissible for his attorney to contact you under certain circumstances.  The question of whether or not the contact was permitted is very fact specific.  I suggest you contact a family law attorney in New Jersey with experience in domestic violence victims, to discuss your specific rights or protections under the law.... Read More

Thank you for your question about equitable distribution during the divorce process in New Jersey.  New Jersey is an equitable distribution state. This means that all marital assets, property, and debt that have been accumulated during the course of your marriage are divided fairly and equitably by the court. It is important to note that equitable distribution does not necessarily mean your assets will be divided into equal parts.  Marital assets are any assets acquired from the date of marriage until the date of filing for divorce.  Whether or not your husband may have a claim to the home in your and your father’s name requires a fact sensitive analysis.  I suggest you contact a family law attorney to determine your rights regarding the home. ... Read More

Thank you for your question. In order to enforce a child support award, you would have to take him to court to get an order enforcing it. While you are not required to hire an attorney to make an application through the Courts, it is generally a better course to have representation to ensure that you are pursing all of your rights in the correct manner as required by the law and Court Rules, and to help you map out the right strategy to get you to your goals.... Read More

As a general statement, neither your former partner nor the probation department can attack your retirement account, but if the court was to conclude that you are willfully refusing to pay your child support obligation or related expenses, the court can order an invasion of your retirement assets for the payment of those expenses, which  invasion will also result in the imposition of taxes and penalties due on the invasion, which will be your responsibility to pay as well. As an alternative, since you acknowledge that you owe the money and dont have the cash flow for the payments, maybe you take the initiative and suggest to your former partner, that you and she enter into a qualified domestic relations order ( called a QDRO) for the payment of all of the money owed for back child support and unpaid unreimbursed health care costs - cleaning up your outstanding obligations. By doing so, the money will be taken from your retirement account and rolled over to a retirement account in your former partners name and then she can withdraw all or part of it as needed ( and she may also qualify for a hardship, avoiding the penalties for the withdrawal). It could be a win-win for both of you. ... Read More

It is not improper for the lawyer to reach out to you to discuss an adjournment request or to ask you if you are interested in exploring other options for resolution of the matter so long as he / she is respectful and does not attempt to intimidate or pressure you with the contact. If you dont want to talk with the lawyer, you can simply tell him that you are not interested in discussing it with him and from that point forward, he should not contact you further. Alternatively, you have the right to ask the lawyer what he is suggesting as a way to resolve the matter peacefully and then you can evaluate whether the suggested solution makes sense to you. ... Read More

It is probably best at this time to put in the H-4 application with EAD as soon as possible. H-4 employment authorization is not favored by the Trump administration and putting in the application now as opposed to later may give you a better chance of actually receiving it. 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

You are going to have to retain a family law attorney (not a general practitioner) who has experience working with DCPP and its requirements to assist you in navigating through this process. I appreciate that you are in treatment but I gather that the DCPP rep wants a specific written plan in place for treatment, and specific written confirmation from your therapist as to your progress for reunification with your son and for purposes of your daughters care. ... Read More

Since the car loan is in joint name, presumably title to the car is in joint name as well. If so, then you are going to need to put in place an arrangement with the lender to remove his name from the loan and to get him to agree ( in writing) that he will cooperate with his name being taken off of the title to the car as well.  Simply by getting his name off of the loan does not guarantee that he will agree to sign the paperwork to remove his name from the title so make sure that any discussion between the 2 of you on this subject is confirmed in a writing. ... Read More

Hi Debra, sorry to hear of this issue. Your benefits should still be ongoing. As for the overpayment, give SSA a call and explain that you can pay it back in small installments if needed.                Scott F. Bocchio, Esq. 855-254-7841 ... Read More

It is not uncommon for parties to work out a framework of a deal and then ask a lawyer to then flesh out those terms into a formal settilement agreement and then assist in the filing of a complaint for divorce seeking enforcement of the settlement agreement signed by both parties. From a procedural standpoint, the next step is to have a consultation ( which inital consultation is free) with a partner in our firm to review the details of the marriage, assets, income settings, children, etc to then match up the framework of the deal against all of the issues that need to be addressed in an agreement ( based on the information provided in the consultation). Presuming everything has been addressed in the framework of the deal, we can then advise you on the retainer cost to prepare the proposed settlement agreement and complaint for divorce. ... Read More

The answer to your question depends upon what the contract is for. But most business transactions can be handled by a commercial litigation attorney. You might consider hiring an attorney who will send a demand letter on your behalf as that would be drastically cheaper than filing a lawsuit. You may have to file a lawsuit eventually but it is a minimal investment to send a letter on your behalf as it might be taken more seriously than your efforts to settle on your own. If those settlement efforts don't work out then you would have to file a lawsuit or an arbitration (the location of which could be determined by provisions of the contract). Consider contacting a commercial litigation lawyer who will review the contract for you and help you assess options. There are some lawyers who will offer these pre-lawsuit services on a flat fee basis.... Read More

If the only issue was a removal proceeding involving illegal stay and not crime or fraud or other ground of inadmissibility, you would either apply for a nonimmigrant or immigrant visa if you are eligible for such. For example, if you applied for a visitors visa, you would disclose the fact of the deportation and it would be up to the consular officer whether to issue the visa dependent upon whether he or she believed that you had the proper nonimmigrant intent. 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

Severance is a substitute for income and, as such, is taxable. The relocation payment is more complex in that the the amount given to you may be taxable, but the monies spent on relocation is tax deductible. One of my partners is both a CPA and a tax attorney. I did speak with him this morning. We can get more detailed answers if you need them. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600 ext 235... Read More

Libel and Slander cases are fact sensitive. We would need to review the messages. If they are not Libel or Slander, we can determine if there can be a negotiated settlement between the parties. We have just negotiated tow similar situations. This is often the better path. Please call immediately. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600 ext 235... Read More

I have been a divorce lawyer for the past 34 years and am pretty tough ( on the outside) but this type of inquiry still causes me sadness since im sure that you sincerely are angry, hurt, frustrated at your current setting and im also sure that your mom does not know how her actions impact you or does not know how best to communicate with you. Im also sure that between your view of the world and your mom's view of the world, there is a lot of struggling taking place and possibly your mom may not have the financial resources to give you the life and the home setting you would like to have. Simply states, life sometimes "sucks" and it may be the reason why you and she are banging heads. Over the course of years, my wife & I have also taken in kids from our local community who were friendly with our sons because of conflicts in their households. In one setting, we took guardianship of a a boy, whose parents had mental health issues and nightly, he slept with his cell phone under his pillow hoping for a call from his mom. Nothing was more heart wrenching to watch then to see the sadness in that boys heart waiting to see if his parents would get the treatment needed for him to go home. My suggestion for you is to google mental health assistance programs offered through your county or through DCPP and maybe you can begin counseling to help you better communicate with your mom and maybe she can then attend the counseling with you so that she can better understand how to constructively communicate with you. Dont give up on your mom.... it may be that she is suffering as well for a million other reasons and does not know how to discuss her issues with you too. ... Read More