How should I prepare to meet with my new lawyer about separation or divorce?
- Google your lawyer for reviews. There may be a mix of good and not so good. Ask your lawyer about them.
- Determine if your lawyer charges a consultation fee. Some charge a reduced fee for the first meeting. Remember that free advice may not always be the best or most thorough advice. Determine what is the best and cost-effective way to communicate with your lawyer.
- Be prepared to talk about the history of your marriage and the reasons why you want a divorce.
- Talk to the lawyer about your children-how they are, the relationship with the other spouse and other concerns that you have.
- Bring financial information with you if possible: paystubs, tax returns, assets information, etc. If you do not have it, talk to our lawyer about how it can be obtained.
- Talk to the lawyer about any goals you may have.
- Speak to the lawyer about the costs you may incur. You may not be able to get reimbursed from the other party. Ask the lawyer what you can do to reduce your costs if possible.
- Ask how you will be billed and how often. Most lawyers ask for a retainer (a deposit) and then charge their hourly rate against the retainer until it needs to be replenished. Determine what the retainer is and the hourly rate and the amount that you need to pay to replenish the retainer.
- Ask the attorney to discuss in detail all the processes that are available-litigation, mediation, collaborative process, arbitration. There are risks and benefits to any process. You need good information to make good decisions.
- If you can, meet with an attorney who devotes their practice to each of these processes.
- Meet with more than one attorney in any event. You need to be comfortable with the attorney you hire.
- You may need to work on a separation or divorce for longer that you expect. Make sure you and your attorney can work well together.
It essentially allows both parties to use their attorneys as negotiators to help them resolve all of their issues and determine their own outcome. No judge is involved. The parties commit to hiring their attorneys for the single purpose of negotiation. The parties also have the benefit of other support professionals such as financial neutrals who collect financial information and make recommendations as to distribution of property, alimony and child support. They couple can also utilize mental health professional to help them focus on productive communication and a parenting plan. There are no hired guns in a collaborative divorce. Moreover, the process is confidential and privileged so the outside world is not privy to any of their affairs, financial or otherwise.
You have to be a resident of the State and you have to have lived in the county in which you file your divorce papers for at least a year before you file the complaint. The person who files the 
A Monmouth County Judge is guided by statutes and case law. For any issue that’s before a court, the judge takes into consideration the factors in the statute, fact sensitive information, custody evaluations, the testimony of witnesses etc. The judge has to weigh each of the factors and all of the other information that is submitted to him for consideration to determine the parent that is most appropriate to care for a child or children. There is generally quite a bit of tension between parents in these types of proceedings. Judges don’t know the couple. The judge may have to rely on expert opinion, which means that each party may have to hire a professional to do a custody evaluation. These evaluations are very expensive. It will involve the children in different ways depending on the age of the child. It’s very traumatic for both parents and especially for children and it’s not an application that should be made lightly.
Technically in New Jersey there is no 
Spousal support is determined by statute. There is an alimony statute that was revised in 2014. It is roughly 14 factors that a judge has to take into consideration in determining the amount, type and amount of alimony. Some of the factors are age, employment or employment history, educational experience, care taking responsibility of the child, health of the party, etc. and any other extenuating circumstance that the judge needs to consider. The determination of alimony depends on so many different things that it cannot be a “one-size fits all” solution. A judge should properly take a lot of time to determine what needs to be addressed.
Child support in Monmouth County is determined just as it is determined in every county in the State of New Jersey and generally across the country by a statute and/or child support guidelines. Child support guidelines are used if the parents ‘net income is less than $3600.00 a week. Income is a very broad term. The determination of their net income is part of the analysis as well as the number of children and the number of overnights each parent has. The amount of child support allocated to a child or children is shared between the parents.
