Spring Lake Divorce and Family Law

Spring Lake is a borough located in Monmouth County. As of 2010, it was home to 1,250 households. Over half of the households were made up of married couples living together, but less than a quarter of the households included minor children. Divorce decrees can include orders that may affect the rest of your life. A family law judge may decide the quality of your life for many years down the road after you have divorced. As a result, it is important to retain an experienced attorney who understands how important your matter is. At the Goldstein Law Group, our Spring Lake family law lawyers provide knowledgeable and tenacious representation.

Children can present a major source of contention in a divorce. Many couples disagree about which parent should live with the child and how much should be paid in child support. Often, spouses are unaware that they are considered equally entitled to have custody of the child. There is a rebuttable presumption that both parents should parent equally. Many people assume that the court will favor the mother. However, this is not true in New Jersey.

Child custody decisions involve two parts. One is legal custody. Legal custody allows a parent to make serious decisions in a child's life. For example, a parent with legal custody may need to decide whether a child should go to a church or a synagogue. They may need to decide who the child's primary physician will be. They may work with teachers to develop an IEP for a child who has special needs. Parents may be able to share legal custody and make important decisions jointly. However, in some cases, the court will give sole legal custody to one parent, particularly if it is shown that the parents cannot communicate effectively with regard to a child.

The other part of custody is physical custody, which refers to where the child lives. When one parent has physical custody, the child lives most of the time with that parent. The other parent may have parenting time. However, when the children live equally with both parents, they have joint physical custody.

In some cases, parents are able to mediate their differences with the assistance of a Spring Lake family law attorney and can come to an agreement about a child's best interests. In other cases, the issue of child custody goes to trial. The court makes custody decisions based on a child's best interests. Factors considered to determine best interests include the age of the child, how well the parents communicate about the child, the history of each parent's willingness to allow the other parent time, the interactions of the child with their parents and others in the family, abuse or domestic violence, stability, geographical closeness to school, how much time each parent spends with the child, and the job duties of each parent.

In some cases, the court will have a qualified forensic psychologist perform a best interest evaluation as to both where the child should live and which parent should have legal custody. This evaluation can be expensive, but it is thorough. It is not binding on the court, but it provides a guide for the court to consider alongside any testimony from witnesses, experts, and children who are old enough and able to express their opinions.

We handle criminal matters before the Municipal Court as well. Municipal courts in New Jersey are courts of limited jurisdiction that hear parking violations, motor vehicle moving violations, simple assault, bad checks, fish and game violations, and violations of municipal ordinances. The Municipal Court for Spring Lake is located in Belmar.

At the Goldstein Law Group, we provide experienced legal advice and representation to individuals and families regarding matters such as divorce, property distribution, child support, alimony, and child custody. You can contact us at 732-967-6777 or by completing our online form.