Olga Kazan recently wrote an article in The Atlantic entitled “The High Cost of Divorce”. She details some reasons why the divorce system is so expensive: Lawyers are expensive and unwilling to change a system that benefits themThere are few pro bono...
The court aspect of divorce can be a very daunting process. With COVID, one aspect of it has been made easier: filing. You can now do that online from the comfort of your home. Judiciary Electronic Document Submission (JEDS) allows non-attorneys to file documents with...
Under NJ law, prior to same sex marriage being legalized, the state decided on civil unions as the legal mechanism to allow for same sex couples to be legally “wed.” This law is still on the books and the state never created a process to convert civil...
Does cohabitation before marriage count in the length of a marriage? A 2017 NJ Supreme Court case answered this question. Sort of. Michael Thieme and Bernice Aucoin-Thieme were living together for eight years before they married. Their marriage lasted 14-months. For...
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...
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
