Child Custody

Child holding cut out of family in their hands When spouses decide to divorce, child custody is typically the first issue to be resolved before addressing division of marital assets and debts, support of spouses and children, and other financial issues.

Decisions as to child custody generally involve:

Where the children will physically reside more than 50% of the time (referred to as primary physical or residential custody)
How will decisions relating to the children’s health, education and general welfare be made (referred to as “legal custody”). When spouses decide to divorce, child custody is typically the first issue to be resolved before addressing division of marital assets and debts, support of spouses and children, and other financial issues.

In New Jersey, the preferred arrangement is joint legal custody, where both parents have equal say as to the major decisions for the child, since it as most likely to foster the best interests of the child in the proper case.

Successful joint legal custody arrangement, however, requires that parents be able to isolate their personal conflicts from their roles as parents and that the children be spared whatever resentments and rancor the parents may harbor. Rarely would only one parent have legal custody, except in cases where there is domestic violence or addiction.

You essentially have two choices when it comes to child custody – to agree on where your child will live, where he or she will attend school, parenting time outside of court or defer to a forensic psychologist and the court to make those decisions for you. The court determines the arrangement that it finds would be in the best interests of the children by considering factors listed in the applicable New Jersey statutes.

In my experience, reaching agreements by the parents themselves is often the better option, and is generally less costly, both financially and emotionally.

That’s why I am so committed to helping clients successfully reach child custody and parenting time agreements with their spouse or co-parent (if unmarried). Clients often come away with valuable tips, tools, and strategies for minimizing conflict that they can use not only during negotiations but long into the future.

It’s generally helpful to remember that when you have children, your co-parent will remain in your life for the rest of your life. Therefore, not only would a future civil co-parenting relationship benefit you – it would mean the world to your children.

Please take a moment to sign up for my blog or check out the services I offer. Schedule a personalized one on one consultation where we will explore all the ways that I can help you resolve your legal matter.

Child Support for College Age Children

In New Jersey, divorcing parents have an obligation to financially support their children until emancipation, that is, when the child completes a continuous four-year undergraduate education up until when the child reaches 23 years of age.

Divorcing parents also have a separate, though related, obligation in New Jersey to contribute to the cost of college for their children.

When parents elect to have a court determine their respective child support obligations for children attending college:

Where the child lives at home and commutes to college full time, the amount of child support is generally (not always) calculated under the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines, to which attorneys and courts have access.

When the child attends college full-time away from home, the amount of child-support is generally determined on a case-by-case basis after consideration of a variety of statutory factors.

In light of the obvious costs (both financial and emotional) and inherent uncertainty of a court decision for your children’s financial support, you would save much time and money by successfully reaching an agreement with your former spouse while preserving a co-parenting relationship for the benefit of your children.

We listen to you and hear your concerns, and design a cost effective resolution and negotiate with your former spouse or his or her attorney, to reach agreement and obtain a binding consent order. You will often come away with valuable tips, tools, and strategies for minimizing conflict that they can use not only during negotiations but long into the future.