Jun

3

New Jersey Child Custody 101

Filed Under Child Custody & Visitation, Child Support, Impact on Children | 1 Comment

For divorcing spouses with children, the issue of custody is perhaps the most important and stressful issue with which to deal. Custody issues are generally divided into two concepts: Legal Custody and Physical Custody.

Legal Custody

Legal custody is defined as a parent’s decision-making responsibilities and can be arranged into two kinds, joint legal custody or sole custody. Joint legal custody arrangements require both parents to discuss and agree on major decisions concerning the child or children, such as medical, education, safety, and general welfare. Conversely, sole legal custody grants one parent the exclusive authority over the decision-making process without input from the other parent.

Physical Custody

Physical custody is defined as the right and obligation of a parent to have his or her child or children live with them. In many instances, one parent is awarded the primary residential custody of the child or children. This parent is referred to as the “primary residential custodian” and is responsible for the daily supervision, lodging and decision-making. The other party or the “non-physical custodial parent,” is conferred rights of visitation or rights of physical custody in accordance with an agreed-upon schedule or court order.

Types of Custody Arrangements

There are many variations of custody arrangements recognized by the courts. Parents are afforded broad discretion to create visitation or “parenting time” schedules aimed at continuing parental contact with the child or children, after the parents have separated or dissolved the marriage. In many cases, parents share physical custody whereby the child or children spend equal amounts of time with both parents throughout the year. The parties may also request that the court order any type of physical custody that serves the best interest of the children.

Factors Considered by the Courts

In making an award of custody, courts will consider several factors, including, but not limited to, (a) the parents’ ability to agree, communicate and cooperate in matters relating to the child or children; (b) the parents’ willingness to accept custody and any history of unwillingness to allow parenting tine not based on substantiated abuse; (c) the interaction and relationship of the child with its parents and siblings; (d) the history of domestic violence, if any; (e) the preference of the child when of sufficient age; (f) the stability of the home environment offered; and (g) the fitness of the parents. Generally, a parent cannot be deemed unfit unless his or her conduct has a substantial adverse effect on the child or children.

Tender Years Doctrine

In New Jersey, courts often employ the “tender years doctrine” when deciding custody matters. The doctrine holds that while the rights of both parents are equal to the custody of children, a child or children of tender years ordinarily is awarded to the mother if she is a fit and proper person. This doctrine, however, is subordinate to both the best interest of the child or children and the equal rights of both parents to the custody of their child or children.

Posted by Jason Medina
Medina, Martinez & Castroll, LLC

Oct

17

Passport Denial Program & Back Child Support

Filed Under Child Custody & Visitation, Child Support, Father's Rights in Family Law | Leave a Comment

A few reputable blogs (here and here) have recently posted on the State Department’s Passport Denial Program.

In short, the State Department denies passports to non-custodial parents who owe more than $2,500 in back child support. Once the non-custodial parent is no longer in arrears, he or she may reapply for a passport.

With the new western hemisphere initiative, requiring a passport for travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean (not Puerto Rico, though), money obtained through the Passport Denial Program is set to double versus last year.

Posted by Victor J. Medina -
Medina, Martinez & Castroll, LLC

Oct

12

Parenting Coordinators as Referees for Divorcing Mom & Dad

Filed Under Child Custody & Visitation, Child Support, Father's Rights in Family Law | Leave a Comment

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece about using Parenting Coordinators to establish communication procedures to help divorced or divorcing parents work together more effectively in the best interests of their children. This piece was quoted by a few notable weblogs, such as here and here, Below is a short excerpt:

In the past decade, more states and counties have put in place statutes or programs spelling out rules and qualifications for parenting coordinators, though practices still vary widely across the country. About a dozen states, including Colorado, North Carolina and Oklahoma, now have statutes giving authority to parenting coordinators, most of them also setting rules for how they should practice, says Barbara Bartlett, a Tulsa, Okla., attorney who has tracked the laws. A growing number of jurisdictions, such as some counties in New York and New Jersey, use coordinators regularly even without state statutes.

The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, a group of family-law and mental-health professionals, issued guidelines in 2005 outlining appropriate practices and training. The group, based in Madison, Wis., also holds parenting-coordinator training sessions around the country. Still, states have yet to adopt formal licensing or accreditation for parenting coordinators.

As the field grows, with wide variation among states and counties in how the coordinators are used, some parents and legal professionals are becoming concerned. Some coordinators may not be well-equipped to handle extremely high-conflict parents or really tough situations involving domestic violence, substance abuse or severe mental illness.

Brian Schwartz, a Summit, N.J., family-law attorney, says that although parenting coordinators can be very valuable, they may have too much authority in some cases and may limit parties from going to court when it may be in their best interest. He’s also concerned about the cost of the service, especially if the two parents have very different financial circumstances. “Unfortunately, parenting coordinators are used too often as a crutch,” he says. “Judges believe if two people can’t get along, a parenting coordinator will solve everything.”

I would add that my experience has been that parenting coordinators work well regarding communication between parents, but aren’t always well-equiped to deal with the needs of special education children.

In addition to our family law practice, our firm has many school districts as clients and we’re often asked to assist school districts with residency issues or special education matters. Invariably, the agreements that parenting coordinators draft demonstrate little understanding of the New Jersey school law statutes or Federal laws on special education (IDEA). It doesn’t have to be us, but I would recommend that if you have a child or children with special needs you make sure that your lawyer is equipped to deal with those issues, even if the parenting coordinator is not.

Posted by Victor J. Medina
Medina, Martinez & Castroll, LLC

Sep

18

First Post

Filed Under Adoption & Guardianship, Alimony, Alternative Roads in Family Law, Assets & Debts, Attorney-Client Relationship, Child Custody & Visitation, Child Support, Divorce & Separation, Domestic Abuse, Family Law Basics, Father's Rights in Family Law, Impact on Children, Marriage & Family, Mediation & Collaboration in Family Law, Property & Asset Distribution | 1 Comment

It seems that every weblog starts with a post called “First Post” and I don’t want to jinx the success of this blog by deviating from the standard. Not to mention, this gives me a chance to test the blog. So, here’s “First Post” - this is going to be a great resource for family law, especially in New Jersey.