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Mens Rights Divorce eBook

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING DIVORCE: MEN'S EDITION

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Our Millburn Divorce Lawyer Will Stand By You From Start To Finish

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MEN’S & FATHERS’ RIGHTS DIVORCE LAWYERS BY SCHULTZ & ASSOCIATES, LLC

Millburn Divorce Lawyer

Get Strong and Supportive Legal Help To End Your Marriage

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Divorce is one of the most stressful life events that a person can experience. Even if you and your spouse are in agreement on proceeding with the divorce, or think you are, the issues that have to be decided when a marriage ends can result in disagreement which causes anxiety and stress. If the relationship between you and your spouse is contentious and you do not agree about ending the marriage or significant issues related to the divorce, the process can feel overwhelming.

When your marriage ends, no matter your unique circumstances, an experienced Millburn divorce lawyer can help you navigate the legal difficulties and pursue the results you and your children need to move on with your lives.

Reach Out to Experienced Divorce Lawyers Near Millburn, NJ

At Men’s & Fathers’ Rights Divorce Lawyers by Schultz & Associates, LLC, we have handled an untold number of divorces of all types — from the most contentious to the friendliest, and everything in between. This experience has shown us that people can navigate the process more easily and effectively when they have strong and compassionate legal support. Our divorce lawyers serving Millburn, NJ, will stand by you. We will ensure you understand your rights in every area of your divorce, including when it comes to concerns about property division, child custody, alimony, and other areas. We have extensive experience working on the most complex divorce cases, including high-net-worth divorces.
Call us at (201) 654-4263 to arrange a time to speak with an experienced Millburn divorce lawyer.

Why Choose Our New Jersey Law Firm?

Our founder Carrie S. Schultz and her entire talented team of Millburn divorce lawyers are focused on providing responsive and effective legal guidance that is tailored to individual situations and goals. We know that even though divorces in New Jersey involve similar decisions about children’s issues, dividing property, debts, and whether alimony will be paid, etc., the individuals, relationships, and details of every divorce are highly unique. There are no one-size-fits-all approaches to divorce. When you choose us to represent you, you will receive strategic counsel that fits your personal circumstances. You will never be left wondering about the status of your divorce or what the next steps are. When you are a client, our responsive attorneys promise to respond to all inquiries within 24 to 48 hours — erring on the faster side.

To learn more about how we have helped others through a divorce, read what our clients have to say. To learn how we can help you, contact us today.

How Our Millburn Divorce Lawyer Will Help You

An antagonistic divorce can send your stress level through the roof. Even in a friendly divorce, you may feel tense and anxious. After all, divorce is life-changing. The dreams you had for the future with your spouse are gone. Instead, you are in the middle of a legal process to end your marriage — a process that can seem complex and confusing.

If you are a parent, you are probably worried about child custody and child support issues. Who will get the house and other assets may also be a constant on your mind. A Millburn divorce lawyer from Men’s & Fathers’ Rights Divorce Lawyers by Schultz & Associates, LLC will reduce stress and worry by guiding you throughout the entire process and addressing your questions and concerns. To be frank, divorce sucks. We want to help make it suck less for you and your children.

Here are some of the ways we will help you during your divorce:

  • Advise you about preparing for divorce, including steps to take to protect your relationship with children and safeguard your assets
  • Explain the process for both non-contested and contested divorce depending on your unique situation
  • Handle all divorce-related paperwork and filings
  • Negotiate with the other side to resolve issues and make the divorce as smooth as possible
  • Represent your interests throughout the proceedings to secure you and your family the most beneficial outcome.

If you want to learn more about relieving stress during divorce, go here. To arrange a case evaluation with one of our experienced Millburn divorce attorneys contact us at (201) 654-4263 or reach out online.

Grounds For Divorcing In New Jersey

You must give a reason, called a ground, for wishing to end your marriage. N.J.S.A 2A:34-2 describes the grounds for ending a marriage. That reason, however, can be “irreconcilable differences,” which is the same as a no-fault divorce.

No-Fault Divorce

When you file on no-fault grounds, you are not blaming your spouse for doing something wrong. You can just say that you had irreconcilable differences. Or you can file on no-fault grounds if you have lived separately and apart for at least 18 months. Most people file for divorce on no-fault grounds because you do not have to prove that one person did something wrong, which can also make the divorce process more amicable. If the divorce process is more amicable, there may be a better opportunity for a faster and more reasonable settlement of the issues.

Fault Divorce Grounds

If you file on fault grounds, you must prove to the court that your spouse did something that caused you to seek divorce. In New Jersey, you can file on fault grounds for the following reasons:
  • Adultery
  • Desertion
  • Imprisonment
  • Drug or alcohol abuse
  • Extreme cruelty
  • Institutionalization for mental illness
  • Deviant sexual behavior.
You might wonder why you would file on fault grounds if it makes the process more complex and probably more emotionally contentious. There are sometimes strategic reasons for filing on fault grounds if you have compelling evidence of wrongdoing. Sometimes filing on a fault ground may influence child custody and visitation decisions and it is important to let the court know upfront about those incidents so the Court gets an immediate flavor of the dynamics of the relationship and the issues that will be the focus of the litigation. You may also want to file under the fault ground of adultery for jurisdictional strategic purposes, which you should discuss with a Millburn divorce attorney the nuances of same.

Types Of Divorce In New Jersey

There are two basic types of divorce in New Jersey. Uncontested divorce and contested divorce.

Uncontested Divorce

If you and your spouse both want to divorce and are in agreement on all (and we really mean every single one of) the issues involved, you can get an uncontested divorce. Obviously, if you agree, or there is even just one major or minor issue outstanding, then you fall within the category of a contested divorce. Most people think they have an uncontested divorce because the major issues have been resolved, but it sometimes turns out that there are issues that neither you or your spouse thought about that actually are very important to be addressed, negotiated, and solved.

Even if your divorce is uncontested, it is still helpful to engage the assistance of a Millburn divorce attorney who can help you with the paperwork and other legal steps involved, ensure your rights are safeguarded during the process, and aid in alleviating potential issues that could turn your uncontested divorce into a contested one.

Also, we often come across parties who believe their matter is uncontested but upon further review, it becomes painstakingly clear that certain issues were left out and not discussed. This is problematic because if an agreement is left silent on anyone important issue, or the language of the agreement is unclear or doesn’t have certain specific protocols in place, then you will most likely just be inviting additional litigation after your divorce, which could be just as costly, if not more, than the divorce itself. The point is that you should ensure you have a comprehensive divorce agreement now, or you will likely fight over those issues later. We caution clients all the time that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure. It is important to understand that price is what you pay, but value and future protection are what you receive.

Contested Divorce

By its very name, a contested divorce simply means there are outstanding divorce issues unresolved between you and your spouse. It does not necessarily mean that the process must be adversarial. It just means we must address and find compromised resolutions to the issues you and your spouse currently do not see eye to eye on.

We accomplish this by involving professionals in your matter who understand these issues and can assist you in coming up with creative solutions to propose that would be acceptable to both of you; we negotiate for you, so you are not in the thick of things directly. You have a buffer since we understand that these issues and this process as a whole can be very emotional and unsettling for everyone involved.

Issues that spouses may disagree about in a contested divorce include whether to divorce at all, filing grounds, child custody, visitation, child support, property division, alimony, and other facets of divorce such as dissipation of assets or business valuations. The time in which a contested divorce can become uncontested is directly proportionally related to the complexity of the issues involved and the level of acrimony between spouses.

Couples may be ordered to attend case status/management conferences with the assigned Judge and external mediation sessions to try and resolve the issues rather than having a judge decide each issue at a lengthy and costly trial. The New Jersey Courts strongly recommend in contested divorce cases that spouses have their own attorneys to help them understand their rights and responsibilities so that they don’t make any mistakes with long-term implications that would be very hard to undo or fix later.

Millburn Divorce Lawyers Safeguard Clients’ Rights

Whether your divorce is contested or uncontested, a Millburn divorce lawyer from Men’s & Fathers’ Rights Divorce Lawyers by Schultz & Associates, LLC, will make sure your rights are protected, as well as ensure that you understand what is expected of you during divorce proceedings. We can counsel you in your uncontested divorce to assure that you have addressed every important issue and counsel you on the impact to you on each provision contained in any agreement you and your spouse may have agreed to in theory or conceptually. We are also not afraid to fight smartly and aggressively for you if your divorce is contested.
Call us today at (201) 654-4263 to schedule a case evaluation so we can learn about your situation, and you can learn how we can help you.

Millburn Divorce Attorney Explains the Filing Process

To file for divorce in New Jersey, you or your spouse must have lived in the state for 12 months (1 year) prior to filing. You can file in the county where you live or the county where the other spouse lives. Once you have filed, you must serve your spouse with the complaint, which can be done by hiring a process server through the mail. If your spouse does not respond to the complaint, the divorce may be granted without their participation in what we call a default divorce.

Answering The Divorce Complaint

When your spouse answers the Complaint for Divorce, they can either:
  • File an answer contesting what is in the complaint
  • File an answer that also makes a counterclaim against you for divorce
  • File a Notice of Appearance that does not contest the complaint but still outlines their requests on certain issues like property division, child custody, visitation, equitable distribution, alimony, and/or other issues.
Both the procedural and substantive steps to divorcing can be confusing, especially in contested divorces. Our Millburn divorce lawyer can guide you as soon as you consider divorce or learn that your spouse is planning to file.

Millburn Divorce Lawyers Answer FAQs

An uncontested divorce realistically will still take a couple of months to be finalized. With a contested divorce, how long it takes can depend on how many issues are unresolved and how much time it takes for you and your spouse to come to an agreement on those issues and can range anywhere, realistically, from five (5) months to just over a year or so. If those issues involve emotional triggers for one of you such as custody and visitation, alimony, and/or business valuations, then the divorce matter may be protracted. A divorce that involves a lot of complexity and conflict is sure to be on the higher end of time. The New Jersey Courts would like to see all divorce cases conclude within 12 months, but that does not always happen for a myriad of reasons which could range from the animosity between the parties to procedural backlog at the courthouse.

The cost of a divorce in Millburn, NJ is directly proportionate to how much time a case takes. The more issues to resolve and negotiate, the more time, the more it may cost. However, we do our best to streamline and focus on the hardest issues first to resolve and really take a strategic approach to prioritizing what issues are the most critical and important to focus on and so you know where to place a majority of your divorce budget. Our Millburn, NJ, area divorce lawyers are neither the most nor the least expensive. But when you work with us, we will seek to get you the results you need in the most efficient way possible based on your situation and goals.

The courts are instructed to look at all the facts when deciding on a divorce. From a legal standpoint, there should be no preference shown for either party based on the sex of that party. Once judges consider all the unique factors in different aspects of the marriage, they make their decisions based on those factors. However, sometimes men who are divorcing can certainly feel that there is favoritism toward their wives or the mother of their children in divorce decisions, especially when it comes to child custody issues, visitation/parenting time, and alimony determinations. And there potentially could be unconscious cultural bias left over from a time when husbands were traditionally breadwinners and wives stayed home to care for children. As legal advocates who focus on assisting men and fathers in marital and family law issues our Millburn divorce lawyers will stand up for your rights throughout the divorce process.

If you have a contested divorce and are unable to agree with your spouse on one or more of the issues, then a Judge will ultimately decide those issues after a Trial. Should your case proceed to Trial (which is rare by the way), you can appeal a judge’s decision but must do so within 45 days of the final decision. However, you cannot appeal just for being unhappy with the decision. You must have a valid legal ground for appealing, such as the court didn’t apply the law correctly, ignored certain critical evidence, or abused its discretion, as examples.
We can help you understand whether you have an appropriate reason to appeal and, if you do, discuss what an appeal looks like and the next steps in the appeals process.

Contact Our Effective Divorce Attorneys in Millburn Today

We Are Here to Help You When Your Marriage Is Ending

Decisions made during divorce can negatively or positively affect you for the rest of your life. You can start out with an advantage by getting knowledgeable legal assistance from a family law firm that will always have your back. We want to do it right the first time to avoid you making costly and impactful mistakes and having to spend extraordinary fees in post-divorce litigation.

At Men’s & Fathers’ Rights Divorce Lawyers by Schultz & Associates, LLC, we understand the difficult issues that arise during divorce proceedings, and we will work hard to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible based on the circumstances in your unique situation and give you an education in the process. To speak with an experienced Millburn divorce attorney, call our office at (201) 880-9770 or fill out our online form.


ATTORNEY BIO

Carrie S. Schultz, Esq.

Thank you for visiting our site. We realize that if you are reading this, you or someone you know is having marital or family difficulties. We truly understand how unsettling that can be for all involved. I personally want to invite you to explore the website which contains a lot of informational and educational items which I hope is of benefit to you. I also welcome you to contact us to schedule a case evaluation to discuss your matter in greater detail. Our firm philosophy is to always remain committed to providing our clients with the best service, care, guidance, communication, and legal advice possible for your particular situation. We take seriously you entrusting us with your legal matter. Happy researching!

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