Former NFL running back Frank Gore was charged with simple assault over an incident that occurred in Atlantic City in July. Allegedly, it was a domestic violence incident between Gore and an unnamed 28-year-old woman that took place at the Tropicana Atlantic City. Police were called to the scene,...

If you logged onto the internet during the spring of 2022, chances are you're somewhat familiar with the defamation case filed by actor Johnny Depp against his former spouse, actress Amber Heard. It's no surprise that a trial between two high-profile celebrities made national headlines, but the n...

If you're dealing with a restraining order in New Jersey, you probably have some questions about what effect it will have on your life. Whether you are the one who filed for the restraining order or the one who the order was filed against, it's changed the way that you go about your daily life. O...

Divorcing parents in New Jersey often fight tooth and nail for child custody when their child or children are minors. Typically, New Jersey courts will award one or both parents a combination of legal and physical custody. In making its determination, the court will weigh the best interest of the...

When someone takes a restraining order against you, it turns your life upside down. Depending on the order's details, you may have lost access to your home, custody of your children, and are forbidden to contact your former partner–and sometimes their close family members or friends–through any m...

Modern technology allows us to communicate with each other online in a myriad of ways. While this connectivity has upsides, it also provides more opportunities for harassment and bullying. In New Jersey, laws have started catching up with online communication and taking it into account in domesti...

Laws such as New Jersey's Domestic Violence Act are vital for protecting actual victims. But in some instances, like a contentious divorce or child custody case, one party may use these laws to make false allegations of domestic violence against the other. A false accusation of domestic violence...

Breakups are supposed to bring closure to relationships, right? Well, yes, but often at least one partner cannot quite let go. Maybe this partner continues with phone calls, emails, texts, uninvited knocks on the door, "watching" from afar, or even threats of one sort or another. This partner, un...

Big changes could soon be coming to New Jersey's gun laws. A particular senate bill introduced by gun rights advocate Senator Ed Durr in early May could have a big impact on how gun violence and the threat of gun violence is handled in domestic settings. Senator Durr wants to loosen the state's c...

New Jersey restraining orders are intended to protect victims from ongoing domestic abuse. But sometimes, both people in a domestic or intimate relationship may consider themselves to be victims in need of legal protection from the other person. In such cases, it is possible for each person to ha...

On June 25, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Among other things, this bipartisan law is intended to reduce the threat of gun violence, promote safer schools, and give greater protection to domestic violence victims. One of the law's more notable features...

Domestic violence doesn't only occur between adults or when an adult abuses a child. Sometimes a minor may behave abusively toward a parent, stepparent, a sibling, or another person in the household. Parents are often reluctant to involve the New Jersey legal system when a minor in their househ...

Divorce can be contentious, even when both sides are honest with each other. Matters can truly derail, however, when one person decides to hide assets from the other to avoid splitting the property in the divorce. When you go through a divorce in New Jersey, each person must provide an honest acc...

There is no shortage of financial concerns to worry over when a marriage ends. On top of the emotional difficulty, divorces require a splitting of assets and responsibilities, and if you and your ex share small children, you'll also need to consider how you'll divide the financial responsibilitie...

When spouses and partners with children split up, they also need to find a way to split time with their kids. Sharing custody of your children with another parent is often complicated and usually requires a formal custody agreement to be approved by a judge. While every person's situation is diff...

Custody situations are never easy to deal with, but when a child's safety is at risk, it becomes much more serious. The State of New Jersey has a method for dealing with threats to a child's safety, known as an emergency custody order. If you feel such an order applies to your child's situation, ...

While custody arrangements involving visitation are rarely straightforward, time with your children can be a source of joy for you and an opportunity to provide a source of emotional security for your kids. Rules of Thumb It's important to gear what you're doing with your visits to your childre...

Here's How to Process Your Emotions When someone you love files a restraining order against you, it's emotionally devastating. Although it sounds like a cliché, you may truly feel as though your heart is breaking. Science shows that heartbreak is more than a banal phrase. Your brain reads deep e...

A restraining order is a tool essential to protecting people from domestic violence. However, sometimes individuals accused of abuse may believe the order has no merit and is being used as leverage to obtain custody of children. Here is what you need to know about how restraining orders can affec...

Getting a Restraining Order Lifted If a judge grants a restraining order, it means that the judge determined that the defendant committed the acts alleged and that continued protection of the petitioner by the court is necessary. If either a petitioner or defendant wants a restraining order lift...

Divorce and custody proceedings can often lead to emotional, impulsive, and ill-advised actions taken in the heat of the moment. It's tempting to use your estranged spouse's words—recorded for posterity—to undermine his or her case. Your animosity may even extend to your soon-to-be ex-in-laws. O...

When many people hear “restraining order,” they mistakenly believe that such protective orders issued by a court apply only to former or current romantic partners. One recent story out of Franklin, New Jersey, however, makes clear that other types of relationships between people can also give ris...

The Importance of “Stay Put” Provisions If you have a child in a special education program in a public school system, the “stay put” provision is among your family's key rights. These rights apply in the event you choose to dispute a change a school or school board wants to make to your child's ...

On February 22, 2021, New Jersey became the 14th state to decriminalize marijuana for recreational use. Though this new law alleviated concerns about the consequences of marijuana use on a criminal level, parents were left questioning how the law might affect their custody arrangements if they de...

Recently, the New Jersey legislature passed a bill allowing judges (both current and former) to request emergency protective orders when they are being threatened. The bill passed unanimously in both the Senate and the House. According to the New Jersey Globe, the emergency protective order would...