Child Support

What happens if a parent throws a teenage child out of the home and continues to collect child support? In short – sanctions. Those were the facts in a recent unpublished New Jersey Appellate Division decision, Lidon v. Lidon, Appellate Division, docket no. A-3355-08T3, decided December 28, 2009.

In Lidon, James and Jean Lidon were divorced in 1997.  Both parents were practicing attorneys. They had two children who resided with Jean. James paid $337 per week in child support to Jean.  The eldest child, a senior in high school, allegedly had a drug and alcohol problem. As a result, Jean threw their son out of her home in the summer of 2007.  This child subsequently lived with friends, in his car, and finally with Jean’s former boyfriend. He finished the school year and was accepted into Lehigh University.Continue Reading Child Support for a Child That Doesn’t Live with You?

Last week news broke the Jon and Kate Gossellin, stars of the Lifetime television program “Jon and Kate Plus Eight,” were divorced in Pennsylvania. Judge Arthur Tilson entered an Order making it official.  To read previous blog entries on this celebrity divorce click here.

While many news articles reported that the couple used an arbitrator, few actually differentiated or explained the roll of the arbitrator. Sometimes divorcing couples use an arbitrator to decide issues in a divorce rather than go to the Court. While in New Jersey only a Judge can enter an Order actually divorcing a couple – hence dissolving the marriage, an arbitrator can decide almost any other issue, including alimony, child support, equitable distribution, college expenses, graduate school costs, medical expenses, counsel fees and tax-related issues. (The only caveat is that both parties must agree that the arbitrator has the authority to decide the issue.)

In NJ when it comes to custody and parenting time arbitration, there are specific requirements for this process that our Supreme Court has set forth in the Fawzy v. Fawzy matter. To read prior blog entries on this case and arbitration, click here or here.Continue Reading Jon & Kate – Arbitrate!

Under New Jersey law, a party of a divorce can seek modification of an order for child support or alimony if there is a “change of circumstance” that affects the income or earning ability of one of the parties.  Lepis v. Lepis, 83 N.J. 139 (1980).  This proposition is one of the most common reasons for post-judgment motions in New Jersey Family law courts, especially in the current economy.  But in a recent unpublished New Jersey Appellate Division decision, Good v. Nedza, the Court affirmed a post-trial order, which did not permit a recalculation of child support or arrears because one of the parties failed to act on information they had obtained years earlier and had at the time when the parties entered a Consent Order for child support.

In Good, the parties were divorced in 2002.  At the time, Mr. Good was the primary provider and the wife, Ms. Nedza, was a homemaker.  The parties had three children.  They agreed that Mr. Good would pay child support and alimony, and they would share joint legal custody of the children with Ms. Nedza having primary residential custody.  Over the years circumstances changed.  By September 2005, all of the children were residing with Mr. Good and his child support obligation was terminated.  A Consent Order entered in January 2006 addressed Ms. Nedza’s child support obligation to Mr. Good.Continue Reading Modification of Child Support – When to File

New Jersey is one of the few states in the country that still requires divorced parents to pay for their children’s higher educations.  The term "divorced parents" is highlighted because married parents do not have the same obligation to pay for their children’s college education if they choose not to do so.  This distinction has lead some to argue that New Jersey’s laws are unconstitutional.  That is the topic for another day.

That said, the answer to the questions posed in the title of this post is maybe.  That is, parents of divorced children may not only have to contribute to their children’s college educations, but graduate school as well.

That was one of the topics of an unreported (non-precedential) case decided by the Appellate Division on December 10, 2009.  Specifically, in the case of Mulcahey v. Melici, the Appellate Division affirmed the trial court’s decision not to emancipate the parties’ child who had graduated from college, require the payment of child support to continue and requiring the payment of graduate school expenses.Continue Reading I DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR MY KID'S GRADUATE SCHOOL, DO I?

It is no secret that our country as well as the global economy is in the midst of a downward turn. Jobs are being lost in nearly every industry and the financial world has been turned upside down.

These economic global problems have touched nearly everyone of us. For those who have a financial obligation to support a former spouse or children, the failure to comply with court Orders pertaining to their financial obligations could have dire consequences.

It is not uncommon for a new client to ask, “Will the judge really understand my situation?” or “Am I going to get a break from my financial obligations or will I be spending money on these proceedings in vain?”

Up until recently, this was a question that received different answers from attorneys and judges across this state. The courts had not handed down much guidance on whether they were viewing the current economic crisis as permanent or something temporary that would pass. Attorneys were armed with an understanding of this global problem as it affected their current clients who were in the midst of the divorce process. The stickier question pertained to those individuals who had been divorced for months or even years and could no longer afford to pay that which they agreed or had been ordered to pay.Continue Reading Applications for Modification of Support Awards

I have heard on more than one occasion from a client that their spouse or ex-spouse isn’t earning nearly as much income as he/she may be capable of earning.  This statement is often made in the face of an alimony or child support calculation.  What happens if this is in fact true?

During the divorce process one of the more common ways to determine how much income a spouse can earn is to have them evaluated by an employability expert.  Now if you look up “employability expert” as a qualified profession or a course of study available in a college course book, I doubt that you would find it in there.  Like many other things, employability experts arose out of a need in the legal profession to have an individual with the proper experience, knowledge and background meet with an individual and assess their skill set to determine what kind of employment they may be eligible to obtain. Viola- a new niche profession is born!

So what about after a divorce is finalized and an ex-spouse is either unemployed (because of the economy, the job market or they simply refuse to work) or is underemployed (earning less than they had previously earned either by choice or no fault of their own) and a support obligation exists?  What does the court then rely upon when addressing the recalculation of a support award?Continue Reading Calculating Child Support Obligations

We’ve all read the salacious gossip at the local food store news stand when popular celebrities bear children out of wedlock or famous couples battle it out in a nasty divorce and heartless allegations fly.  Even in those widely publicized cases, it can be an uncomfortable and awkward situation for any parent to question the paternity of a child.  I will admit that in my experience it is not a common occurrence for a parent to question the paternity of a child.  That’s not to say it doesn’t happen.  What happens when that question arises?

In NJ and many other states there’s a presumption that the name listed on a birth certificate is the father of a child.  There is also a presumption that a father who assumes paternity by allowing their name to be listed as the father on a birth certificate along with participating in the upbringing of the child, making financial contributions for the child and representing himself to the public as the child’s father is that child’s father, whether DNA says so or not.  These cases are factually sensitive and depend upon a number of factors for consideration, such as:

-When paternity is questioned?

-Who is questioning paternity?

-Is there another man submitting himself as the biological father of the child?

-Does the mother know who the biological father is?

These are just a few factors to consider.  Recently, the Appellate Division, in the unpublished decision of Qian v. Wang, A-1873-08T1, decided October 14, 2009 addressed this issue.

In Qian, the parties had been married for 13 years before the father questioned paternity of the parties’ only child in the midst of their divorce.  After DNA testing, there was no dispute that the child was not the biological child of the father.  The mother testified at trial that she believed the father was the biological parent of the child until the DNA tests revealed otherwise.  The trial judge found this testimony to be credible.  Also at trial, the father testified that at the child’s birth, he had suspicions about paternity but did nothing to pursue those suspicions.Continue Reading Questions of Paternity

It is not uncommon for divorcing parties or parties who may have never married but share a child in common to face the issue of the costs of childcare.  In a time and economic climate where more often than not, both parents must work to support a household, payment of child care costs is an issue that must be addressed.

When calculating the Child Support Guidelines, which is the method NJ courts use when determining how much child support one party will pay to another for a child or children, part of the consideration allowed is a credit for child care costs paid.  It is not necessary that the cost of child care be included in the Guidelines calculation, as sometimes there are situations where parties will negotiate payment of this expense outside of the Guidelines calculation.Continue Reading Child Care Expenses as Child Support