Hoboken Divorce Lawyer

Meeting Location By Appointment Only. Call 800-537-4154 For Your Consultation.

The divorce attorneys with Aretsky Law Group, P.C. have dedicated their professional lives to seeking justice for their clients in Hoboken, New Jersey. Justice, in terms of a divorce, may mean one thing to one client and another to a different client. The divorce lawyers with Aretsky Law Group, P.C. understand that what is just in one case may not be in a different divorce case. Consequently, the Hoboken divorce attorneys at Aretsky Law Group, P.C. take the time to meet with the individual client, learn about the legal issues confronting them, and then decide a plan to achieve justice for the individual client. Dedicating individualized attention to each client fosters an attorney-client relationship built upon trust.

Divorces can be very complicated legal matters. While the act of dissolving a marriage is not complex, legal matters incidental to the divorce significantly complicate the situation. Issues like child custody, child support, property division, and alimony all must be resolved during the divorce.

The parties have the opportunity to resolve their issues through negotiation and settlement. If they are not able to do so, they can turn to mediation and arbitration before taking their case to trial. Most often, resolving the issues in a divorce is easiest on the litigants and their children.

A spouse can file for divorce by filing a complaint for divorce in the Hudson County Superior Court. The filing fee is $300. The complaint must state the grounds upon which the party is seeking a divorce. The filing party must serve the complaint upon his or her spouse.

In New Jersey, 2A:34-2 permits a spouse to dissolve a marriage based on either at-fault or no-fault grounds. At-fault grounds are adultery, extreme cruelty, abuse, and desertion. Filing a complaint for divorce based on an at-fault ground obligates the person party who filed the complaint to offer affirmative proof of those grounds in court.

A no-fault divorce is also known as a divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. The judge must find that the parties have lived separately for at least six months before the filing of the divorce petition and that there is no hope of reconciliation between the parties.

According to New Jersey Statute 2A:34-23.1, marital property must be divided equitably. Numerous factors should be considered when dividing property equitably. A judge will consider:

• Duration of the marriage,
• Mental health and physical health of the parties to the marriage,
• Age of the parties and the financial status of the parties while married,
• Property and income brought into the marriage,
• The economic situation of each party after the property division,
• The earning capacity of the parties, and
• The present value of the property.

This is not an exhaustive list. The statute contains other factors, and the judge has the discretion to consider other factors when equitably dividing marital property.

Generally speaking, the property brought into the marriage and kept separate from the marital property will remain separate. Marital property is any real estate, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, personal property (the dog, paintings, a car), intellectual property, retirement accounts, and pension accounts. Division on pension and retirement plans might require a special order called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (“QDRO”) issued by the judge.

Whether the judge will grant an alimony award to one spouse is another consideration when dissolving a marriage. Whether alimony will be awarded, and if so, the duration and amount, is based on the need of one party to be financially secure as if he or she was still married. The factors a judge will consider may be found in New Jersey Statute 2A:34-23(b).

Contentious child custody disputes can take an emotional toll on the parents and the children. The children are often caught in the middle of the dispute as they observe the two people whom they love most in the world argue about them. Therefore, it is important that the parents work together if they can, to minimize the emotional pain children in a divorce may suffer. Toward that end, divorcing parents must attend educational classes as mandated by the Court.

In New Jersey, child custody is determined in accordance with the best interests of the children as mandated by New Jersey Statute 9:2-4. A judge can order that custody be sole, joint, sole with parenting time rights, or some other custody situation after applying the factors delineated in 9:2-4.

The noncustodial parent must pay child support to the custodial parent. The judge must take into consideration numerous factors when arriving at an order. The factors are listed in New Jersey Statutes 2A-34-23 and the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines. A judge may order child support payments to last until the child reaches 18 years old. However, the order may be extended if the child is in high school, college, or has a severe mental handicap. It should be noted that if a person is paying support for more than one child and a child reaches the age of majority, the child support order is not cut by the percentage of children covered by the order. A judge must recalculate a new order based on the change in circumstances. It is also important to remember that the child support guidelines create a presumption that may be rebutted by evidence that the guidelines should not apply.

Getting divorced can be extremely stressful. The Hoboken divorce attorneys at Aretsky Law Group, P.C. understand the pain, anguish, frustration, and grief you might feel. You can trust them to guide you through the process as you look to a brighter tomorrow. Call the Hoboken divorce attorneys at Aretsky Law Group, P.C. at 800-537-4154 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to schedule your consultation at their main office or at any one of their meeting places conveniently located across New Jersey.