NJ Divorce Attorneys
Representing New Jersey divorce clients
When a New Jersey couple decides to divorce, there are several options available to them. They can decide on a “traditional” divorce, which starts by hiring an attorney and filing a divorce Complaint with the court. Or the couple can decide to take advantage of the new “No Court” option – collaborative divorce – by hiring a New Jersey attorney who is certified in the Collaborative Divorce process.
“Traditional” Divorce (sometimes called “Contested” Divorce)
With a traditional divorce, one spouse or the other hires a divorce attorney and then files a “Complaint” with the Court. The other spouse then engages a divorce attorney to file an “Answer” to the Complaint. It does not matter who does the filing and who does the answering. There is really no “advantage” to being the first one to file.
You do not need to have “grounds” for divorce as New Jersey has adopted “no fault” divorce. This means that you do not have to accuse the other spouse of physical or mental cruelty, or adultery, abandonment, etc. Rather, you can state that you have “irreconcilable differences” that have lasted for at least 6 months. These “irreconcilable differences” must be severe enough to have led to a breakdown of the marriage, and there must be no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
Once the divorce has started, there are several issues that need to be addressed. These are: the dividing up of assets, deciding custody issues with respect to children, and making decisions about spousal support (alimony) and child support.
As you can well imagine, these emotional and financial issues can sometimes become complex and cause battle lines to be drawn. It is the job of your experienced divorce attorney to navigate through these issues as quickly as possible, and to get you the best possible result.
