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...
Divorce can be a long process. It can take years if you do not use mediation (hint, hint). So when the court finally enters the Final Judgment of Divorce, you might think that you’re finished. Not exactly. Effectuate any QDROs you received. Waiting can cause you...
COVID has certainly hit New Jersey hard. Case totals were high during the spring of 2020 and now that the cold weather has returned, the COVID case numbers are back to record numbers. One speculation was that with stay-at-home orders and limited ability to truly move...
I have written previously about how courts expect divorced spouses to maximize their incomes when it comes to alimony or child support. If a spouse fails to maximize their income, the court can impute (assume what it should be) income for that spouse. But what happens...
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