Relocating With Your Child After Divorce

People often find need or reason to move after divorce whether it is for better employment opportunity, a new marriage, better schools or a host of other reasons but when there are minor children involved the court becomes involved in the removal of children from New Jersey. Over time, as our society has become more mobile, the courts have modified the requirements for removal of a child from New Jersey by the custodial parent. Recently, in Benjamin v. Benjamin, the court held the custodial parent no longer has to have a job in the new location but simply "a reasonable plan for providing a stable home" for the child in North Carolina. Although the parties actually shared custody of the child, the mother was designated the parent of primary residence of the child. The court decided that employability rather than employment should be considered because parents cannot always secure a job until they are living in the intended locale when there is already a large pool of candidates seeking employment in most areas. Upon a showing of a good faith intent for the move, a plan to purchase a home for the family and proof of employment opportunities in the area the Judge granted permission for the mother to relocate to North Carolina with the child over the objection of the non-custodial father. If you are seeking or fighting the removal of your child from the state of NJ, you should consult an experienced family law attorney immediately in order to protect your rights. For more information on child support, custody, parenting time/visitation, adoption, dissolution of a civil union, marriage or domestic partnership, modifications, alimony, palimony or other family or juvenile law matters in New Jersey visit HeatherDarlingLawyer.com. This blog is for informational purposes only and in no way intended to replace the advice of an attorney regarding your specific matter.

Parenting Rights for Fathers Improving in NJ?

Often the Parent of Primary Residence (PPR), traditionally the mother, will make it difficult for the other parent, Parent of Alternate Residence (PAR), to see the children. Fathers who worked to support a family only to face divorce often find themselves unable to see their children as a result of courts forcing them to continue to support the now dissolved family, including a former spouse, for no other reason than they did so during the marriage. As a result of being forced by courts to work long hours, sometimes even second or third jobs, to pay the bills of the former spouse, fathers are further denied the opportunity to raise the children and find themselves relegated to the position of PAR. It is often only a matter of time before fathers find the other party withholding or denying parenting time. A recent NJ case offers hope to the PAR. In Ewing v. Hart, the NJ Appellate Court held that (1) a mother who moved to Florida with the children and denied summer and holiday visitation time to the father was in contempt of court; (2) charged the mother with custodial interference and signaled she may be required to return the children to NJ if the mother did not cease her interference with the father's parenting time; and (3) permitted the father to file a motion for a change in custody in the event the mother continued to deny the father parenting time as ordered. This blog is for informational purposes only and in no way intended to replace the advice of an attorney regarding your specific matter. If you are involved in a dispute regarding child custody or parenting time, you should consult an experienced family law attorney immediately in order to protect your rights. For more information on dissolution of a marriage, civil union or domestic partnership, child custody or other family law matters in New Jersey visit HeatherDarlingLawyer.com.

Rights of Unmarried and Same-Sex Parents in NJ

Applicable to both heterosexual and same-sex partners, a recent NJ court decision offers hope to the Parent of Alternate Residence (PAR) when it comes to parenting time. Often the Parent of Primary Residence (PPR) will make it difficult for the other parent to see the children. In the case of unmarried heterosexual couples parenting time issues are frequently more difficult for fathers than for fathers in relationships where the child was born during wedlock. For same-sex couples in which the child is born prior to a civil union, or there simply is no civil union, and the non-biological parent does not have opportunity to adopt prior to the dissolution of the relationship, parenting time issues can become even more difficult. In both cases, there is hardship due to certain long-time presumptions by the courts about children being born to a married mother who stayed at home and raised those children and father who worked to support the wife and children which have not yet changed to meet the diverse relationships that now exist. Even in the case of dissolution of marriage, the father who worked to support the family and finds himself divorced often finds the other party withholding or denying parenting time. In the case of Ewing v. Hart, the NJ Appellate Court held that (1) a mother who moved to Florida with the children and denied summer and holiday visitation time to the father was in contempt of court; (2) charged the mother with custodial interference and signaled she may be required to return the children to NJ if the mother did not cease her interference with the father's parenting time; and (3) permitted the father to file a motion for a change in custody in the event the mother continued to deny the father parenting time as ordered. Although the mother and father were never married, the court refused to take a prejudicial position against the father. This blog is for informational purposes only and in no way intended to replace the advice of an attorney regarding your specific matter. If you are involved in a dispute regarding child custody or parenting time, you should consult an experienced family law attorney immediately in order to protect your rights. For more information on dissolution of a marriage, civil union or domestic partnership, child custody or other family law matters in New Jersey visit HeatherDarlingLawyer.com.