Tag: Family Part

Which Should Come First in a Criminal Case Involving a Juvenile Sought to be Tried as an Adult: A Suppression Motion in the Family Part or Waiver to the Criminal Part?

State in the Interest of E.S., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Sabatino concisely posed the purely legal issue presented on this appeal: “This interlocutory appeal presents an unsettled question concerning the fair and appropriate sequence of proceedings ...

Recreational Marijuana Use, Standing Alone, Cannot be the “Sole or Primary” Basis for Termination of Parental Rights Unless Use Endangers a Child

New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. D.H., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This case comprised two related appeals. Two biological parents saw their parental rights to their five-year old son terminated by the Family Part ...

Motions to Terminate Alimony Obligations Due to Cohabitation or Remarriage Are to be Treated Like Summary Judgment Motions

Temple v. Temple, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). When plaintiff Jeffrey Temple and defendant Cynthia Temple divorced, they entered into a marital settlement agreement, incorporated into their 2004 dual judgment of divorce, under which Jeffery was to pay ...

Pre-Marital Agreements, Mid-Marital Agreements, Property Settlement Agreements, and (Today’s Case) Agreements in the Nature of a Mid-Marital Agreement

Steele v. McDonnell Steele, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Enright’s decision for the Appellate Division in this case today involved an appeal of the Family Part’s enforcement of a martial agreement (“MA”) between the plaintiff husband and ...

Getting Current With the Appellate Division

The past few days have been especially busy ones in my practice. The Appellate Division has likewise been quite busy issuing published opinions as January turned to February. Here are summaries of those opinions. City of Newark v. Township of ...

Revised Children in Court Standards are Issued, But Without Change to Appeal-Related Items

The Supreme Court announced Directive # 03-21, available here. That Directive supersedes Directive # 18-17. The new Directive “promulgates a revised set of Children in Court (CIC) standards as approved by the Supreme Court.” The standards themselves have been revised ...

Two by Judge Fisher

Ippolito v. Ippolito, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020); Garden State Investment v. Township of Brick, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Each of the last two days saw published opinions by Judge Fisher. Each one was short, ...

“Proliferate and Exceedingly Intimate” Text Messages Can Amount to a “Dating Relationship” That Supports Issuance of a Restraining Order

C.C. v. J.A.H., 463 N.J. Super. 419 (App. Div. 2020). The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C;25-17 et seq., allows the issuance of a restraining order for the protection of any “victim of domestic violence.” Such victims include “any ...

An Attorney Who Can’t Handle an Assigned Matter Effectively Must Either Retain Substitute Counsel or So Advise the Court

In re Adoption of a Child by C.J., 463 N.J. Super. 254 (App. Div. 2020). This opinion, issued today,must have been a very distasteful opinion for Judge Koblitz to write. As will be seen, the bottom line is “to be ...

An Expungement Case and a “Conditional Res Ipsa Loquitur” Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two more cases. One arises out of a finding of child abuse and neglect. The other involves a request for expungement of criminal convictions following a gubernatorial pardon. The former ...