Hackensack Family Law Blog

Winning the lottery can be a gift and a curse. You’ve attained financial freedom and have the potential to care for generations of your family to come. Unfortunately, there are drawbacks to your newfound fortune. There are taxes that cut into your winnings—and, sometimes, former spouses taking you back to court?

This is exactly what happened to a New Jersey man who won $273 million in March 2019. The man had visions of a new truck, a family vacation and renovating his mom’s home. Renegotiating his divorce agreement likely wasn’t on that list.

It is that time of the year: compiling all of your tax information to ensure you get the most benefit from your available deductions and exemptions. Here is a quick list of items to help you in gathering the information you need and some sound suggestions:

1. Make sure that you have all of your W-2s, 1099s and K-1 forms that reflect your taxable income for the year. 1099s reflect a variety of income, including earnings, interest, dividends, capital gains and short-term gains from investment s, and distributions from retirement accounts. Your employer and financial institutions should provide copies of this information.
2. Make sure that you have a 1099 to reflect your mortgage interest paid for the tax year. You can call the mortgage company for this document. Real estate taxes are also deductible against income. You can get the amount of your real estate taxes paid for the year from the municipality where you reside.
3. You can deduct health care expenses up to a certain a percentage of your adjusted gross income. Gather all of the your out of pocket costs for all family members for whom you contributed, including yourself. Only consider the costs you actually paid and deduct any insurance reimbursements. Consult with your accountant as to how much of these costs you can deduct. Ask if your health insurance is a deduction available to you if you are self-employed.
4. Work-related child care costs are also deductible costs. Talk to your accountant as to how much.

If you are in the process of divorcing, what issues should you incorporate into your divorce agreement about alimony in the future? How do you balance the need for support versus moving on in life? Read on to see the current state of the law on cohabitation and its effect on the continued payment of alimony.

Since the New Jersey alimony statute (N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23) was amended and took effect in September 2014, attorneys have been waiting for case law to develop to help define and clarify some of the new or revised legal concepts. Once such case has been Robitzski v. Robitzski, A-2818-14T3, which was decided by the Appellate Division on May 5, 2016. In this case, the Appellate Division upheld the lower Court's decision that an alimony payor failed to establish a prima facie case of cohabitation. The parties had been divorced in 2004, with the former husband obligated to pay alimony. The parties agreed that alimony "shall be modified or terminated pursuant to New Jersey statutes and case law" if the wife cohabited in the future. The former husband presented evidence that his former spouse spent overnights with her significant other 100 to 110 overnights per year. The trial Court had denied the former husband's motion, determining that he failed to make a prima facie showing of changed circumstances. However, limited discovery was ordered even though the motion judge found that no prima facie evidence existed.

What do you do when sexually assaulted by an acquaintance that you may have the possibility of seeing again? Imagine a scenario where you are sexually assaulted by a work colleague or the victim of a date rape. Other than filing criminal charges, is there any recourse to protect you?

Many people are familiar with the NJ Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (NJSA 2C:25-17 et seq.) ("PDVA") which is the law governing restraining orders in New Jersey. The PDVA was passed to protect victims of regular, repeated abuse at the hands of a spouse, significant other, or cohabitant. However, there needs to be that specific relationship to be eligible for protection. At the current time, there are currently 18 causes of action for a restraining order, including harassment, assault, terroristic threats, and the like. Sexual assault is one cause of action that can warrant a restraining order.

However, the PDVA does not provide protection to victims of sexual abuse at the hands of an offender with whom they do not have an established relationship. This could be someone who you met on a first date, a colleague, a neighbor, a college campus sexual assault. Under those circumstances, the protections of a restraining order under the PDVA are not available because there is no past or current relationship romantic relationship.