In Z.A. v. R.V., Jr., an unpublished Appellate Division case, meaning not precedential, the Appellate Division ruled that the best interests of the child governs a surname change. This rationale falls squarely with the court’s previous cases that a child’s name change must be evaluated under the best interest standard. Emma v. Evans,
Custody
A Reminder: No change of circumstances? No best interests of the child finding? No change of custody or parenting time..
Last summer, Eliana Baer and Eric Solotoff of our Family Law Department achieved an Appellate Division victory when a trial court’s decision to allow our client’s ex-husband to obtain a custody evaluation without the requisite finding that there had been a change of circumstances. In that case, the Appellate Division took issue with the trial…
AAML & AFCC PROVIDE SEVEN GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS WHO ARE DIVORCED/SEPARATED AND SHARING CUSTODY OF CHILDREN DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
I received an email earlier this week containing guidelines for parents who are sharing custody and parenting time of their children during the Coronavirus Pandemic which was prepared by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC). It is reproduced, in full, below. Obviously, we are all…
Be Prepared For the Storm
There has been a lot of talk about the lack of preparedness for last week’s snow storm that left many people stranded in traffic for hours trying to get home. While many have argued, perhaps rightly, that the storm turned out being much worse the forecast, at the end of the day, as with many…
Pros and Cons of Dating During Divorce
Going through a divorce is one of life’s greatest disruptions. Whether you are resistant to the divorce and it feels like a tragedy or you are initiating the divorce and it feels like an escape, there is no doubt that divorce creates a massive change in your family life, finances and day-to-day routine. At its…
Read This Before You Press “Record”
Technology is making it easier and easier to satisfy our curiosity about just what the heck the people in our lives are up to. Are you curious about your husband’s whereabouts? You could plant a GPS device on his car. Do you want to know what your wife is saying to the kids? There are…
The Expansion of Tri-Parenting
Last year I blogged on tri-parenting, or the concept whereby three parents agree to raise a child or children together as a family, with regard to the published New Jersey trial court decision of D.G. and S.H. v. K.S. My previous blog post can be found here.
In that matter, D.G. and his husband,…
Considerations When Determining a Midweek Overnight Parenting Time Schedule
In the case of M.C. v. P.C. (unreported, non-precedential), Judge Jones explores the issues surrounding mid-week overnight parenting time during the school year and its effect on the best interests of the children. In many cases, both parents live close by and are routinely exercising parenting time on weekdays in addition to weekends. While frequent…
Read Mark Ashton’s Post “Listening to Your Kids During Traumatic Times”
Mark Ashton, a partner in our Exton (Chester County), Pennsylvania office and former editor of our Pennsylvania Family Law Blog wrote an interesting post entitled “Listening to Your Kids During Traumatic Times” .
In this post, Mark, from a child’s perspective, lists 15 things that parents going through this process should consider, as follows:…
A Tri-Parenting Conundrum and the Evolution of Custody and Parenting Time
In the recently published 67-page trial court decision of D.G. and S.H. v. K.S., the trial court dealt with the novel issue of custody and parenting time in a “tri-parenting” relationship. In that matter, D.G. and his husband, S.H., along with their friend K.S. embarked on a journey of conceiving and raising a child…