Our Monmouth County divorce lawyers have written recently about a number of important issues for couples divorcing in 2019, including Financial Planning for Divorce in 2019, and changes to tax treatment of New Jersey alimony payments in the new year.
Planning is a critical part of divorce because modifying divorce orders
after the fact can be costly and time-consuming – if the court agrees
to consider modification at all.
An experienced divorce attorney in Freehold can best assist you in adopting an acceptable division of assets, parenting plan, custody, and support agreement. Adopting a workable plan that addresses specific issues (including medical expenses, higher education costs, and critical religious and medical decision making), can best alleviate the need to seek post-judgment modification.
In some cases, couples rush to an agreement to get away from one another, which can create later issues. Part of your divorce lawyer’s job is to make sure you have made workable agreements before a divorce is finalized.
Post-judgment Modifications in NJ Divorce
Post-judgment modifications following divorce in New Jersey typically require a significant change in circumstances, such as:
- Job loss
- Disability
- Decrease in income
- Retirement
- Significant increase in income (either spouse)
- Remarriage or cohabitation
- Serious illness
Not settling points of contention before a divorce is finalized can leave few options. The court will not revisit your agreement just because you are unsatisfied.
Still, there are times when modification or enforcement of existing court orders becomes necessary. Job loss, failure to pay support, relocation, cohabitation issues, and child custody agreements are among the most common reasons modifications are considered.
In such cases, it’s important to get a modification adopted by the court, rather than making a private agreement, which may or may not be recognized by the judge. Failure to comply with court orders can result in a number of civil or criminal violations. The most common is failure to pay child support, which can have a number of consequences, ranging from driver’s license suspension to arrest.
New Jersey Statute N.J.S.A. 2C:12-4(a) covers interference with child custody issues. In other cases, contempt of court may be filed under New Jersey Statute N.J.S.A. 2C:29-9, which can result in civil fines and even criminal penalties in cases where the court deems a party is not adhering to the orders of the court.
Potential civil and criminal consequences await those who don’t deal proactively with such issues. Additionally, such behaviors will not be looked upon kindly by the court when you eventually show up to resolve them. Seeking the help of an experienced Freehold divorce lawyer can eliminate many issues from the start and will best allow you to present your case to the court when the need for post-judgment modifications or other issues arise.
Call Rozin|Golinder Law, LLC today for a free and confidential consultation so you can determine what the best course of action is for your case.