Health & Fitness
State Legislature Considers Possible Reforms to NJ Family Law
How pending reforms may impact our local residents or their family members dealing with divorce or family law issues.
There has likely never before been a time of greater wholesale reform or the possibility of reform to New Jersey family law. As a local family law attorney, it is interesting to observe. In just the past year our state has seen the legalization of same-sex marriage, reform to our state's palimony and prenuptial agreement laws, and now there are significant attempts in the state legislature to reform alimony and laws impacting on child support/emancipation.
The New Jersey Supreme Court will soon hear a case or cases addressing interpretation of changes to the palimony laws, and it is possible some day even the legality of the Defense of Marriage Act could conceivably be questioned. Such is the state of the law, which always continues to evolve. In July 2013 I wrote a blog post here at the Patch about the legalization of same-sex marriage and changes to palimony and premarital agreement law. I will now turn to changes to emancipation (i.e. when a child reaches the age of majority) and the potential of alimony reform.
Pending Alimony Reform Bills
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The Future of Alimony Reform Bills
As indicated above, it remains uncertain how this will all play out. It’s possible, as with any bills pending in the legislature, that one or all of the bills could “die” in committee, not be passed, or be passed and then later vetoed. Thus change is not certain, and the timeline on when such changes might occur remains unclear. In my practice, it is somewhat difficult advising clients how to proceed given how much uncertainty there is. I am sure many other family law attorneys feel the same way. Also, one of the reform bills would allow for retroactive application, meaning every person who has ever been divorced might wish to revisit the issue of alimony. There is a concern that could potentially overburden our court system.
It’s not often that family law issues become front page news, but the issue of alimony reform has captured a lot of media attention. I have even had non-lawyer friends mention it to me, so I know it must be an issue on the minds of many. However, another important bill that appears more likely to pass has flown somewhat more under the radar.
Find out what's happening in Bridgewaterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Age of Majority Bill (Affecting Emancipation and Child Support)
A bill that recently "cleared committee" would change the current law so that at 19, upon marriage, or upon entry into the military child support would end unless the parties or court order extended support. Although this may impact statutory law, this does not appear to be all that different from the current case law where there is a rebuttable presumption of emancipation when a child reaches the age of majority. Its biggest impact will likely be with regard to which party carries the burden of filing a motion or taking action. For instance, will child support just automatically cut off through probation when a child reaches 19 years of age? The buzz appears to be that this bill will be swiftly passed.
Conclusion
Changes to our State's family and divorce law have been occurring at an accelerated pace. As a local family law attorney, it is interesting to watch and to try to address the possibility of such changes when resolving my client's legal issues. As citizens, these bills might very well affect you or one of your family members. It is a good thing there is an open dialogue on these issues, even though any system will have it's share of critics given the nature of the issues at stake.
