MEETING OPTIONS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS: The Law Offices of Peter Van Aulen understands your concerns regarding the spread of the Coronavirus, and now offers different meeting options to our clients and those seeking legal representation. All meetings, including initial consultations, can be handled either through the phone, FaceTime, Zoom, or in person.

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If you’re at the point in your divorce where it’s time to make decisions and negotiate a settlement, you’ll need some pointers to help you reach your goals.  Here are some tips for negotiating the best result from your divorce.

Goal setting

Prior to a negotiation meeting, list your goals – a general overall goal, such as “do what’s best for my children,” “make sure I have a place to live,” and “ensure I can retire at a reasonable age,” as well as more specific goals on each issue, like “I want to pay less than $1,000 per month in spousal support” or “I want a 10/4 parenting time schedule.”  Your smaller goals are just guideposts and may move throughout the negotiation. Keep your big picture in mind and be flexible with your smaller, more specific goals.  This way of thinking helps you compromise on non-core issues and hold firm on matters central to your overall, primary goal.

Think long-term to avoid settler’s remorse

To illustrate this tip, let’s say you are a long-term stay-at-home mom and you want primary custody of your children. However, you know your husband won’t agree because he wants to pay as little as possible in child support. You want to propose that you’ll take less in child support if he will agree to your custody proposal. It may be tempting to give in on an issue in order to do what you think is best for your children. Before you give in too quickly, hold out a bit, stand firm, or fight back. Generally, given the circumstances above, you should receive primary custody and child support. Keep in mind that child support is financial support for your children and they need that, too, as much, if not more than time with you. Concede on points that don’t matter to the big picture and dig in on issues that have a big impact on your long-term goals. Continue Reading →

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Divorce can be one of the worst experiences in life. Just when you feel most vulnerable and afraid you have the added stress of financial upheaval, the loss of friends, and the sight of distressed children. More than at any other time, advice is absolutely crucial.

1) Take care of yourself. When gripped by the trauma and stress of divorce, many people neglect their physical health. But you will be of no use to your children if you allow your body to falter. You may complain that you do not have time to exercise or prepare healthy food, but you must make the time. If you eat plenty of fresh, healthy food and keep up your fitness regimen, your head will be clearer, you will make better decisions, and you will have the energy to fight.

2) Accept what has happened. As with the bereaved, the newly divorced often fight their situation. They know intellectually that the person has gone, but deep inside they resist. And this can apply even to those who initiated the separation. Of course, acceptance will be even more difficult if your partner left suddenly, without warning. But the fact is, you will not begin to heal until you have fully grasped the reality of your situation. Continue Reading →

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The annulment of a marriage erases the marriage completely, as if it never happened. Without a marriage, there is no marital property or debt. Therefore, in a civil action to annul a marriage, there will be no equitable distribution. There are other mechanisms to divide jointly owned property, but not by equitable distribution.

An action for annulment results in custody and child support orders, if children are involved, just as it would with any unmarried couple. Although rare, alimony can be awarded. Religious annulments are something entirely different and must be addressed with your religious leader, not the court system.

Grounds for Annulment

  • One spouse is already married or in a civil union and the other spouse was unaware of that at the time of the marriage
  • Nonage: Either spouse was under the age of 18 at the time of marriage, having no legal right to consent to marry
  • Duress: Threat of serious violence, or something similar, generally toward the spouse-to-be or a loved one, if that individual does not marry the threatening spouse-to-be
  • One or both of the spouses lack mental capacity or mental ability at the time of the marriage to give consent. Think in terms of severe intoxication as well as other physiological lack of metal capacity or ability.
  • Failure of one spouse to advise the other of their impotence. This includes the refusal to consummate the relationship as well as the inability to do so and if a woman conceals her inability to bear children
  • Marriage of between close blood relatives
  • Fraud and misrepresentation including:
  • Lie of either spouse about desire to have, or not have, children
  • Immigrant lies about reasons for marriage when really only going through the marriage to obtain citizenship
  • One spouse is addicted to drugs or alcohol and misrepresents that to the other spouse prior to marriage
  • Lies of one spouse about their religious beliefs which was a major factor in the marriage or civil union
  • At time of marriage, wife fails to advise husband that she is pregnant by another man
  • NOT lies about financial circumstances (this has been found inadequate to support annulment)

Continue Reading →

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When searching for a divorce lawyer in NJ, you want someone you can trust. You’re dealing with an unfortunate situation which may be complicated by child custody or other legal issues. You may have to handle disbursement of assets or alimony. Since complicated emotions are involved, it helps to have an objective view from an experienced attorney.

Experience Matters

Peter Van Aulen has more than 23 years of experience as a New Jersey divorce attorney. His years of practice have been devoted to this area of the law, and he’s become recognized as an authority through his reputation. He has worked with clients in various situations in both large and small cases.

Experience in divorce law is important when selecting from divorce lawyers in NJ. You may be navigating new territory as you seek a divorce, and you need someone who knows the law to protect your interests. When children are involved, the situation can become even more intense. Peter Van Aulen has a solid record of handling child relocation, child custody and parent alienation. Continue Reading →

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New Jersey has no action for separation for married couples. Instead, there is an action for “divorce from bed and board” which does everything a divorce action does, but leaves the parties married. These actions are based on exactly the same grounds as those for absolute divorce. If both parties are not in agreement to obtain a judgment of this type, it cannot happen. Also, either party may seek to convert these judgments to a judgment for absolute divorce at a later date.

Separation Agreement versus Divorce from Bed and Board

 A separation agreement allows the parties to control how all assets and debts are shared, to determine custodial arrangements as well as child support and alimony decisions. In an action for divorce from bed and board, a judge makes those decisions.

A separation agreement, quite simply is not a court order and can be enforced under contract law only. A judgment of the court can be enforced as a court order. Continue Reading →

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New Jersey has a set of statutes on the specific requirements of NJ prenuptial and pre-civil union agreements and enforcement of them, referred to as the Uniform Pre-Marital and Pre-Civil Union Act. The details begin at N.J.S.A. 37.2-31 and continuing thereafter.

The Purpose: Protection

Prenuptial and pre-civil union agreements set the rights and obligations of each party to the partnership, and each other, with regard to both existing and future property ownership, financial obligations and the overall financial relationship between the parties. These Agreements create a relationship that can waive existing rights and add additional rights. For example, the rights of a spouse to a portion of the estate of their deceased spouse can be waived in these Agreements with other arrangements being made instead. This is often important when there are multiple marriages and children to be protected from prior relationships.

What Will Make A NJ Prenuptial Agreement Fail

In consideration of having a prenuptial agreement drafted, it is beneficial to know what action or inaction can make it fail. The Act itself includes not just the requirements, but what it takes to set aside or have the Agreement declared unenforceable, their case will be based on any or all of the following failures: Continue Reading →

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The Child Support Guidelines apply to support for all children whose parents combined net income is between $8,840.00 annually ($170.00/week) and $187,200.00 annually ($3,600.00/week). The guidelines amount, within this span of income, is presumed to be the correct amount of child support, though there are reasons to deviate from guidelines, including but not limited to:

  • Educational expenses of the children
  • Unreimbursed medical expenses of either parent
  • One parent’s household having more than six children
  • Special needs of the child or children
  • Specific Shared Parenting arrangements that have a different set of Guidelines

Goals and Inclusions in Child Support Calculations

Child support is intended to cover certain expenses of the child, and is an obligation of both of the parents. The goal is supposed to be to afford the child the same opportunities that would have existed if the family remained together. The expenses to be covered by basic child support are:

  • Food, housing, clothing and transportation
  • Up to $250 of unreimbursed health care each year, per child
  • Entertainment
  • Various miscellaneous expenses

An interesting thing about child support is that there is a presumption that an increase in income of the payor results in an equal and simultaneous increase in the child or children’s needs. Continue Reading →

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Although New Jersey became a “no-fault” state in 2007, no-fault divorce was an addition to grounds based divorces, not an elimination grounds. There is now a choice whether to seek divorce on a no-fault or fault based grounds.

A fault based divorce gives no advantage on determinations of property division, child support or alimony.  As to child custody, unless the fault claims negatively impact the children, fault grounds provide no benefit in custody determinations, either.

No-Fault Divorce: Irreconcilable Differences

In New Jersey, the reference to “no-fault” divorce means that there are irreconcilable differences between the parties resulting in a breakdown of the marriage for at least six months. The parties need not be separated for any period of time whatsoever. Continue Reading →

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The Bisbings entered into a Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA) that contained specific provisions about relocation of the children. The provision was quite detailed, including specifics about proximity of local relocation distance limits as well as out of state relocation requiring agreement of the parties or court order. The parties considered relocation for employment purposes, though not for re-marriage. At the lower court level, the parties agreed that the children’s quality and style of life are equally provided by both parents.

The lower court allowed relocation of the children, to Utah, with the mother. There was no hearing whatsoever on the issue of relocation. The lower court made a further order for a parenting plan, again, with no hearing whatsoever.  The father appealed. The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court’s decision returned the case to the lower court to hear the matter and apply the appropriate standards in so doing. Unfortunately, it did not return the children to New Jersey while the matter was pending.

One of the pivotal issues in this appeal was whether the wife had acted in good faith in the negotiation of a settlement agreement, including custody and a non-relocation provision. Looking at the timeline of events, it is clear why that was an issue. Here are the basic facts: Continue Reading →

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Criminal Coercion, in its simplest terms, is a threat of some sort of harm for the purpose of compelling someone to act in a way they would not otherwise act. The person threatened is the victim of the criminal coercion. Think in terms of someone threatening to harm your children if you do fail to do something demanded. You take this action only to protect your children from the harm threatened. It is not just the threat that is necessary for criminal coercion, but that you complied with the demands to prevent the threat from being carried out.

A recent Superior Court case, J.L. v. A.C., defined coercion and its application pursuant to the new addition to the Prevention Against Domestic Violence Act (the “Act”). The Court interpreted the new addition to the act as including acts of intentional intimidation, or intent to intimidate, by threatening to harm a child or other loved one. Continue Reading →

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