Is Breastfeeding in Your Child's Best Interest? New Jersey Has No Official Position But It May Factor Into Your Custody Dispute Breastfeeding has evolved into a somewhat controversial topic in recent years for a host of reasons. The formula vs. natural milk debate is ongoing, objections to public...
Parents Cannot Afford to Wait to Act When the State Step In The parents have one year to work with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) to have the child returned when a child goes into foster care in New Jersey. During this difficult period, DCPP has the responsibility of provi...
Considerations for Alimony Modification in the Post-Lepis Era The court's power to modify alimony and support orders at any time is specifically recognized by New Jersey Statute. (See, N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23). In order to achieve a change in alimony or child support you, need to show a “change in cir...
Divorce is Always Unpredictable, But the Right Plan Can Improve Your Chances of Reaching the Right Result with Minimal Ugliness Halloween is supposed to be scary; divorce, on the other hand, need not be terrifying. Halloween is here. It's a fun holiday even for families in transition with the pr...
DeMichele & DeMichele Attorney Will Discuss Effective Cross Examination of Police Officer in a DUI Trial Attorneys at DeMichele & DeMichele devote the vast majority of their time to fighting for clients facing difficult challenges, but we also firmly believe that continuing education is an import...
Knowing the Language of Child Support Can Help Improve the Chances of a Positive Result in Court Just like any other specialized area of the law, New Jersey child support matters utilize unique terminology with which all child support litigants should familiarize themselves before setting foot in...
Ways to Keep the Spookiest of All Holidays from Turning Into a Nightmare for Your Kids Another Halloween is only days away. It's one of the most thrilling holidays on the calendar for children; adults typically enjoy it, too, but things can get scary very quickly without the proper planning. Thi...
Valuing and Determining the Fate of Your New Jersey Home at the Time of Divorce After the children, few variables in a divorce tend to produce the same level of emotion as the marital home. Couples often spend their lives to purchase, repair, improve and decorate their house. Intangible but no l...
New Jersey Family Courts May Impute Income When Setting Child or Spousal Support Determining the appropriate child or spousal support obligation is often straightforward but can be very complicated, too. A number of factors could influence the ultimate amount. At the top of that list is the incom...
New Jersey Moves to Expand Aid to Domestic Violence Victims in Wake of Superstorm Sandy We routinely handle domestic violence matters at DeMichele & DeMichele. Unfortunately, victims often feel as if there aren't sufficient resources to help them through one of the most difficult periods of thei...
He/She is a Good Kid, But… How many times have you heard this when a teenager does “something stupid” and gets caught? How can you keep “something stupid” from ruining the future of a good kid? The Juvenile Code in New Jersey recognizes that that adolescence is a time of learning and growing an...
Monday, Oct. 21 Marks the First Opportunity for Garden State Gay Couples to Marry Today is a historic moment for the State of New Jersey; it's the first day when it is legal to perform same sex marriages in the Garden State. Officials expect marriages to take place across the state as same sex ...
Knowing What to Expect and How to Proceed With Your Divorce Can Make All the Difference Our firm handles a significant number of divorces every year. In the course of our representation, certain question seem to get asked all the time. Below is a list of the 10 most commonly asked questions and ...
A Review of DWI Discovery and the Collection of Medical Records Resulted in a DWI Dismissal We recently were able to obtain an outright dismissal of the DWI charge for our client in Deptford Township Municipal Court. Regular readers of our blog will know you should never just plead guilty to a ...
DFYS is Now DCPP But the Challenges for Parents, Children Remain the Same The Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) was formally but still popularly known as “The Division of Youth and Family Services” or DYFS. In years past, DYFS had its share of problems – including child deaths – ...
New Jersey Municipal Court Defendant Successful on Appeal After Sentenced to Jail and License Suspension for Careless Driving In this particular case, the municipal court judge sentenced the defendant to a suspension of driving privileges for ninety days, fines and costs totaling $241, and a fift...
The “NJ SAFE Act” Becomes Effective Today This new law requires employers who have more than 25 employees to provide their employees with unpaid leave when they are victims of domestic violence. The law effectively prevents employers from discriminating against either victims of domestic violenc...
What Does Last Week's Major Mercer County Decision Mean for Same Sex Couples? A Few Things… As our own Rick DeMichele told CBS KYW radio back in May, it is only a matter of time before New Jersey's courts once again take up the issue of same sex marriage. Sure enough, they've once again waded b...
Has New Jersey DWI Law Become Settled? The past couple of weeks have been busy for those who follow the legal landscape in New Jersey Municipal Courts. Here is a recap of our recent posts involving DWI and the New Jersey Municipal Court System. The status of DWI protections involving the Alcotes...
Massive Child Support Arrears Are Often An Avoidable Problem Child support affects average folks as well as the rich and famous. Dr. Phil recently interviewed the famous 1990s/early 2000s Americans rapper DMX; it had been reported that DMX owed $1.23 million in back child support. DMX responde...
Your New Jersey Teen Child May Be Entitled to Extra Child Support; Here's How to Tell Calculating child support in New Jersey is contingent upon the state's Child Support Guidelines, a complicated matrix that statisticians, economists and judicial experts believe produces a child support award co...
UNLIKE SOME OTHER STATES, NJ KIDS CAN CONTINUE RECEIVING SUPPORT WHILE THEY REMAIN WITHIN THEIR PARENTS' “SPHERE OF INFLUENCE” A very common misconception among our new DeMichele & DeMichele family law clients is that “emancipation” in New Jersey happens automatically when children reach the age ...
DWI Standard Statement is to Inform the Defendant In a unanimous opinion, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Division in State v. O'Driscoll, In this case the arresting officer read an outdated Standard Statement to the defendant. The police are required to read a defendant a ...
NEW JERSEY COURTS ROUTINELY USE GENETIC TESTING TO DETERMINE A FATHER'S IDENTITY For many of our clients, the dreaded “paternity suit” is easily the most sensitive area of any family law practice. Such disputes usually arise in one of three ways: (1) the alleged father suspects, for one reason ...
Municipal Court Conditional Discharge Law Many first-time municipal court offenders will benefit from a new law enacted in New Jersey. We've written many times in the past about conditional discharge, a diversionary program that permits certain New Jersey defendants to avoid (and ultimately dism...
