New Jersey Family Legal Questions

I'm so very sorry to hear about your loss and wish your family the very best. I will do my best to respond to you as specifically as possible here, but please know that more information is needed for a complete answer and tailored advice. You can certainly file for grandparent visitation in New Jersey. Courts do hear these types of applications fairly routinely. But, to be honest, it is not an easy case for you to prove. As the grandparents, you have to prove to the judge that your grandchild will be harmed by not seeing you/having visits with you. This is a pretty tough standard and hard to prove harm will come to him or her if you are not given grandparent time with them. The case could end up needing psychological experts to get involved to evaluate your family and make a determination that the child will be harmed, if they do indeed come to that conclusion. My advice would be to try and work out a grandparenting time plan with the child's other parent. Sit down and try to come up with an agreement that works for the whole family. Of course, be reasonable. Digging in your heels and refusing to negotiate will certainly get you nowhere fast. Consider a consultation with a family law attorney who can discuss all the details of your family situation and give you the best plan of action and legal advice to achieve your goals. Many firms offer free consultations as we do. Wishing you the very best. Bari... Read More

I assume that you already discussed this with an attorney because recently the Supreme Court of NJ changed the standards for moving a child out of state that make it more difficult for the custodial parent to move versus how the law was previously interpreted. The case name is Bisbing v. Bisbing. I have done a couple of videos and blogs on the subject at my Facebook page if you wish to take a look. https://www.facebook.com/anthonyvanzesq/... Read More

If both parents do not wish you to see your grandchild then it will be very hard to force visitation. Best hope is if you already have a relationship with your grandchild (i.e. took care of him, he is bonded to you) where you can show a possible harm to the child. But parents have the first priority to decide whether to permit visitation or not.... Read More

If it is the home you both live in then it is a marital residence and you have rights to it.  Just because something is in his name doesn't mean its not a marital asset.  He used his 401(k) money to buy it, and you are entitled to a portion of that money, therefore, a portion of the home purchased with that money could become yours also because it was acquired during the marriage.  Things like inheritence are sometimes excluded form being marital assets because it was not earned or acquired during the marriage.  ... Read More

How old are you now?  The Statute of limitations does not apply until you turn 18.  If you have documents with your birth name, and documents with your incorrect name, then the easiest thing to do is to apply to the Court for a name change to change your name back to your "correct" name or to the name you want to be.  You should be able to obtain a copy of your birth certificate, and even if it s"wrong" or its not the name you use, you can change your name, and then you will have the Court record of your name hcange as proof of your identity. ... Read More

If you r dad has a will - then his will governs what happens to his assets.  If he does not - his estate is considered "intestate" (without a will) and then the second wife only gets a portion of the estate, not the whole thing.  You should find out if your dad has a will.  If he does not, and he is competent, talk to him about doing a will.  ... Read More

If you do not have any documentation regarding the money being a loan, it is going to be very difficult to prove that it was a loan and not a gift.  In fact, sometimes the mortgage company requires a letter indicating that it was gift so you you need to be careful that this was not actually documentated as a gift. ... Read More

Social security retirement benefits are considered income. So, if I understand your question, there is no reason that you cannot use your benefit money in paying your child support. It may even be possible to move to modify your child support if your income has decreased as a result of your retirement. As to whether benefits that may be available to the children will reduce your obligations, I do not believe so, unless you are paying specifically in your child support for some service that may now be provided by Social Security. But there is not enough information to say that it would have any effect.... Read More

Generally speaking grandparents have rights through the parent so if your son is no longer alive then you don't necessarily have rights. However, if there has been an ongoing connection between yourself and the two children, particularly if they are attached to you, have had regular contact with you, etc. then you can apply for visitation rights based upon the fact that the children had an attachment to you (or a psychological bond) that is separate from the fact of you being the parent of their father. This is something you need to discuss further with a family law attorney. Also, it depends upon whether the mother is trying to prevent you from being able to see the children. You can always try and reach my office if you wish a consultation at 973-665-6367 if this is in northern New Jersey.... Read More

It is hard to say and you should consult with an attorney in person, but when you file a case information statement in preparation for a divorce one of the sections you fill out is to describe contingent liabililities and contingent assets. Contingent assets, for instance, can be law suits, patents, or other assets that are not in hand but may be expected in the future. Without getting into specifics, if you were just writing a book for your enjoyment while you were married with no intention or idea of publishing, you may be able to state that the proceeds arose after the date of the complaint. However, if you were under some contract or had some more definite hope of publishing your book during the time you were married, then she may have a claim to some of the proceeds. There is not really enough info to give a more definite answer.... Read More

Normally a person has thirty days after receiving notice that property should not be considered abandoned. Then you would have to arrange to pick up the belongings through an intermediary such as a police officer (don't do it yourself if there is a restraining order). Or else, you may need to go back to court and inform the judge that your daughter is withholding essential things from you.... Read More

There are a few hearings that you will be facing. You hopefully already have an attorney representing you, and if not, you should get private counsel or have someone from the Office of Parental Representation represent you. You state that DCPP removed your daughter but then you say that they are seeking care and supervision. If you do not have custody now, you should have a case for care, custody and supervision. There would have to be a fact-finding hearing to demonstrate by evidence and testimony whether or not an act of neglect or abuse occurred. If not, then the case should be dismissed, or the child returned and you may then have care and custody with supervision. Outside of a plenary hearing with witnesses, I don't see any success in filing a motion unless the case against you have been very weak and the case can be made on the law alone without any factual case.... Read More

I handle cases on behalf of parents dealing with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency as DYFS is now called. However, the names of referrals are confidential, so unless you have a very good basis to suspect a particular individual and some kind of proof to substantiate it, you are not likely to find out who the complainant is. The child abuse hotline does not disclose it and neither will DCPP, although sometimes one can figure out that the allegations came from some specific individual. If you need assistance dealing with the Division itself, I do take some cases in northern NJ.... Read More

If the lease is in your father's name, then either he can file an action for ejectment, which is similar to an action for eviction for non-tenants. If there are problems as a whole, the landlord can file to evict, but that would probably be against the whole family. You could also try and file for a restraining order against her if you have evidence to show her violent behavior and that would force her out of the house at least until you get a final restraining order. Having a child though also complicates issues because then you would have an issue as to who had custody of the boy.... Read More

Unless there is some formal court order if the father passed away, you have sole custody of the child. You can discuss with an attorney preparing some power of attorney if you need your mother to be able to act on your behalf if the child is in need of medical care, or if the mother needs to get medical records or school records or the like. You could also give your mother joint custody, but that is not something that should be done without a lot of thought since you could find yourself in a custody battle with your mother. If the written agreement has sufficed up until now, I would not recommend going for joint custody without at least consulting with a family law attorney beforehand.... Read More

You most definitely can seek to have a judge order supervised visitation and even a risk assessment with an inspection of the father's home if the judge believes that it is warranted. You either need to file a motion to open up a child custody case or file a motion to amend an existing vistiation order.... Read More

A NJ court order has no effect on a pesron who lives in the Dominican Republic unless this person chooses to come back to NJ. I am also not clear why an adult would be seeking a paternity test, since it would not be for support purposes. But you don't mention if the father lives in DR permanently or is only there temporarily and plans to return to NJ.... Read More

Is there an agreement that restricts a step parent from having information regarding the children that is with their mother? While you have the same rights to access the children's records as the mother does, I don't necessarily think consent is needed for the step-parent to speak with school administrators while the children are living with the mother. Of course, should the mother and her husband divorce, then there would be no further grounds for the step-parent to be involved, since he would be an ex step-parent.... Read More