Clark New Jersey Family Law Blog

When a New Jersey resident decides that they want to do something, they may hope to accomplish their goal as fast as possible. While some tasks can start and finish in a relatively short amount of time, others may require days, months or even years to fully finish before they may be considered completed. Though few divorces take multiple years to work through, divorces can last for months after their initial filings.

This is because there are many steps that must be finished before a divorce can be finalized. A party must file for divorce in order to start the process in the courts, and the opposing party must be given time to receive notice of the initial filing and submit their own response. The parties may need time to secure their own counselors and advocates and may wish to undertake valuations of their property prior to dividing it up.

Like many successful New Jersey entrepreneurs, it may have taken you years to bring your business dreams to fruition. Your business is an intensely personal issue. You're passionate about it; after all, you're the one who put in all those long hours and persevered through the ups and downs of the start-up phase until the glorious day arrived when you hung the "open" sign over the threshold.

Whether that sign is figurative because your business functions on the internet or you have a brick and mortar storefront, since the day you launched, you have nurtured your company as a parent nurtures a child. It's understandable that, since your spouse filed for divorce, you want to do whatever you can to protect your business interests.

Premarital agreements, also called prenuptial agreements, are not romantic. In fact, they are contracts that are put into place to help resolve future conflicts between individuals who have not even formalized their relationships in marriage. However, there are many good reasons why New Jersey residents may want to enter into premarital agreements before they say "I do".

One reason relates to the amount of property or wealth that a person amasses before they get married. A person with significant financial assets or business wealth may want a premarital agreement to identify and keep their separate property under their exclusive control in the event that they go through a divorce. In some cases, separate property may be converted into marital property and be subject to division if it is not identified as separate in a valid premarital agreement.

Along with child custody, child support is one of the most important issues that New Jersey parents must work out to allow their kids to continue to live loved and supported after their parents' divorces. Child support is generally established through statewide guidelines, though variations to those calculations can be permissible when such actions are necessary to protect the needs of the children. However, as parents know, the needs of children can change over time and can impose greater demands on the financial resources of their caregivers.

A child who suffers an illness or an injury may require specialized care that is not accessible given the amount of child support that they are provided each month; this example is just one of the many situations that may arise and require courts to reexamine the child support orders they have promulgated for the benefit of New Jersey children. Similarly, a parent who loses their job and their means of paying child support may need to have their obligation reduced or eliminated until they can continue to support their child.