Since the onset of the pandemic, New Jersey family law practitioners and litigants alike have been wondering how the obvious financial repercussions the pandemic has wrought on individuals’ financial circumstances
Continue Reading New Jersey Appellate Division Rules: COVID is Not a Permanent Change of Circumstances to Modify Support
The newly unreported (does not set precedent) decision of Covone v. Curreri makes two bold moves: (1) asserting that the passage of time is not a change in circumstance warranting
Continue Reading New Case Inadvertently Serves as a Tip for Couples with Young Children Divorcing/Setting Child Support
I have previously written about the custody and parenting time issues that may be presented when a child is moved from state to state within the country. But what of
Continue Reading Moving Child Support from Place to Place
As noted by Robert Epstein in his blog post from earlier today, issues surrounding jurisdiction are often complicated and fact-specific. Luckily, in the recent published decision (precedential) Johnson v. Bradshaw
Continue Reading NEW JERSEY COURT ‘PUNTS’ JURISDICTION
In this economy, you would be surprised to see how many judges are jaded by applications brought by supporting spouses to reduce their support obligations based upon a reduction in income. After all, some judges entertain these applications on their daily docket and oftentimes see supporting spouses who are simply attempting to capitalize on the down economy and lack any actual merit to their cases. This blog post will explore one of the reactions by judges to this type of application; namely, denying the request of the supporting spouse outright without even holding a hearing, taking testimony, and making credibility findings.
Support obligations are always modifiable by the family court upon application of the supporting spouse. Typically, this type of application requires the supporting spouse to make a threshold prima facie showing that “changed circumstances have substantially impaired the ability to support himself or herself.” Lepis v. Lepis, 83 N.J. 139, 157 (1980). When such a showing is made, the Court must next determine if a plenary hearing is warranted. This is sometimes referred to as the two-step Lepis analysis.
With the economic downturn and slow down in the economy since 2008, there has been a lot more post-judgment litigation to reduce alimony and child support. Much of this litigation
An interesting decision on the issue of support modifications came down last week from the Appellate Division in the unpublished (not precedential) matter of Schechter v. Shechter. There, the husband in
We have in the past blogged on cases which have been decided involving applications for a modification of support obligations based upon economic changes in circumstances. While the vast majority of
There have been countless occasions when a client, or potential client, asks me – “how can I modify my support?” In these tough economic times, the question usually comes from
Continue Reading Modifying Your Support – Show Me the (Lack of) Money
What happens when an asset divided in equitable distribution really isn’t worth what you think it was? That was an issue in the Simkin case that I have blogged about in