Preparing Your Divorce Complaint
The complaint is the document that begins your case and presents your situation to the court. The complaint also contains what you are asking the court to order. This is called legal relief.
Information Required by the Court
The following is a short list of the information that should appear in your complaint.
The names and addresses of you and your spouse. (See paragraphs 1 and 6 on the complaint.)
Note to victims of domestic violence: If you are hiding from your spouse because you are afraid, you do not have to write your street address and phone number in the body of the complaint
If you are afraid to disclose your address, you will need to provide a post office box number or an alternative address where you can receive mail. You should consider obtaining this alternative address through the New Jersey Address Confidentiality Program (ACP), which is a program designed to help victims of domestic violence who have relocated for their safety. The program limits the abuser’s access to information that would reveal the victim’s new location and allows the victim to receive first-class mail by way of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. For further information about the ACP or to register for the program, call 1-877-218-9133 or visit the New Jersey Coalition For Battered Women's Web site. You may also register as a participant in the program by contacting your county domestic violence program. For the address or phone number of your county domestic violence program, call the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women at 1-609-584-8107 or visit the Coalition Web site or New Jersey’s Domestic Violence Programs by County (from the NJ Department of Community Affairs Division on Women). Your alternative address goes on the top of the complaint so that the court can contact you. Depending upon the particular facts of your case, the court rules will require you to file your complaint in a county where you or your spouse now lives. (See Filing the Complaint With the Court.) If the rules require you to file your complaint in the county where you now live and you don’t feel safe even having your spouse know which county you live in, you should apply for an alternative address through the Address Confidentiality Program described above.
The date of your marriage.
The reason you are seeking or grounds on which you are basing a divorce. If you are seeking a no-fault divorce, you must state the date you and your spouse began to live separately, and where you lived when you separated. If you are seeking a fault divorce based on extreme cruelty, you must describe the acts of cruelty on which you are basing your complaint. List the dates of all acts of abuse that occurred from the day you were married until the date that is three months before you sign and date your divorce complaint.
Confirmation that you have met the one-year residency requirement.
Where you lived when you had been separated from the defendant for 18 months or when the defendant committed acts of cruelty against you or when you and the defendant had experienced irreconcilable differences for a period of six months
The names and ages of any children.
A list of any prior court actions between you and your spouse in New Jersey or in any other state where you lived—this could include court orders for adoption of children, child support, custody, visitation, or domestic violence restraining orders. Make sure to include the docket numbers of those court actions.
The relief you seek besides the divorce, such as custody, parenting time, alimony/spousal support, child support, or permission to use another name. Remember: This is an important part of your complaint. If there is anything that you want the court to order as a part of your divorce, you must make a general request for it in this section of your complaint. For example, if you are seeking spousal support or child support, you do not need to specify a dollar amount, but you do need to let the court know that you are requesting support. You and your spouse will agree to the specific amount in a settlement agreement or the judge will make a decision later.
At the end of the complaint) is an additional statement, called a Certification of Verification and Non-Collusion, which you must sign. It states that you are making your complaint in good faith, that all the claims are true, that there are no other pending actions involving your marriage, and that no other people need to be included in this case.
Now is a good time to review all of the documents you gathered together relating to your marriage to help you decide what legal relief you will be asking for in your complaint.
Source: http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/family/divorce/divorcenj/divch1/index.cfm#ch1
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Fault-Based Divorce NJ
Fault-Based Divorce NJ
The other type of divorce action is a divorce based on a specific reason (ground or fault).
Desertion. Desertion occurs when one spouse leaves the other spouse for 12 months or more against the wishes of the other spouse. A party must wait until he or she has been deserted for at least 12 months before he or she can file a complaint for divorce based on desertion. See Complaint for Divorce Based on Desertion and Attached Certification. To file a divorce complaint based on desertion, the following basic requirements must be met:
You or your spouse must have lived in New Jersey for the 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint.
Your spouse must have deserted you for 12 months or more against your will.
Extreme Cruelty. Extreme cruelty includes acts of cruelty that range from unpleasantness and emotional abuse to those involving severe physical violence. See Complaint for Divorce Based on Extreme Cruelty and Attached Certification. To file a divorce based on extreme cruelty, the following basic requirements must be met:
You or your spouse must have lived in New Jersey for the 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint.
The most recent acts of cruelty you claim in the complaint must have happened at least three months before you file the complaint for divorce. For example, if you file your divorce complaint on June 1, 2007, the last act of extreme cruelty that you should put in your complaint is an event that occurred on or before February 28, 2007. This is true even if the cruelty is still going on when you file the complaint. Include all acts of abuse that occurred from the day you were married until the date that is three months before the date you sign your divorce complaint. If the abuse is ongoing, you will simply leave out the specific acts that happened in the last three months before you file.
Other Fault-Based Grounds. Other fault-based grounds include adultery, deviant sexual conduct, habitual drunkenness or voluntary addiction to any narcotic drugs, institutionalization for mental illness, and incarceration. This manual does not provide information for divorces based on those grounds.
source: http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/family/divorce/divorcenj/divch1/index.cfm#ch1
The other type of divorce action is a divorce based on a specific reason (ground or fault).
Desertion. Desertion occurs when one spouse leaves the other spouse for 12 months or more against the wishes of the other spouse. A party must wait until he or she has been deserted for at least 12 months before he or she can file a complaint for divorce based on desertion. See Complaint for Divorce Based on Desertion and Attached Certification. To file a divorce complaint based on desertion, the following basic requirements must be met:
You or your spouse must have lived in New Jersey for the 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint.
Your spouse must have deserted you for 12 months or more against your will.
Extreme Cruelty. Extreme cruelty includes acts of cruelty that range from unpleasantness and emotional abuse to those involving severe physical violence. See Complaint for Divorce Based on Extreme Cruelty and Attached Certification. To file a divorce based on extreme cruelty, the following basic requirements must be met:
You or your spouse must have lived in New Jersey for the 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint.
The most recent acts of cruelty you claim in the complaint must have happened at least three months before you file the complaint for divorce. For example, if you file your divorce complaint on June 1, 2007, the last act of extreme cruelty that you should put in your complaint is an event that occurred on or before February 28, 2007. This is true even if the cruelty is still going on when you file the complaint. Include all acts of abuse that occurred from the day you were married until the date that is three months before the date you sign your divorce complaint. If the abuse is ongoing, you will simply leave out the specific acts that happened in the last three months before you file.
Other Fault-Based Grounds. Other fault-based grounds include adultery, deviant sexual conduct, habitual drunkenness or voluntary addiction to any narcotic drugs, institutionalization for mental illness, and incarceration. This manual does not provide information for divorces based on those grounds.
source: http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/family/divorce/divorcenj/divch1/index.cfm#ch1
No-Fault Divorce NJ
No-Fault Divorce
No-fault divorce means that the court will end the marriage based on separation (the fact that you and your spouse have been living in different places for 18 consecutive months or more), or based on irreconcilable differences (the fact that you and your spouse have experienced irreconcilable differences for a period of six months or more). The advantage of getting a no-fault divorce is that the law does not require proof that either spouse was responsible for causing the marriage to end.
To file a no-fault divorce complaint in New Jersey based on separation, the following requirements must be met:
You or your spouse must have lived in New Jersey for 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint.
You and your spouse must have lived apart—that means in separate residences—for at least 18 consecutive months before beginning the divorce action.
There is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
To file a no-fault divorce complaint based on irreconcilable differences in New Jersey, the following requirements must be met:
You or your spouse must have lived in New Jersey for 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint.
You and your spouse must have experienced irreconcilable differences for a period of six months.
The irreconcilable differences make it appear that the marriage should be dissolved.
There is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
source: http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/family/divorce/divorcenj/divch1/index.cfm#ch1
No-fault divorce means that the court will end the marriage based on separation (the fact that you and your spouse have been living in different places for 18 consecutive months or more), or based on irreconcilable differences (the fact that you and your spouse have experienced irreconcilable differences for a period of six months or more). The advantage of getting a no-fault divorce is that the law does not require proof that either spouse was responsible for causing the marriage to end.
To file a no-fault divorce complaint in New Jersey based on separation, the following requirements must be met:
You or your spouse must have lived in New Jersey for 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint.
You and your spouse must have lived apart—that means in separate residences—for at least 18 consecutive months before beginning the divorce action.
There is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
To file a no-fault divorce complaint based on irreconcilable differences in New Jersey, the following requirements must be met:
You or your spouse must have lived in New Jersey for 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint.
You and your spouse must have experienced irreconcilable differences for a period of six months.
The irreconcilable differences make it appear that the marriage should be dissolved.
There is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
source: http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/family/divorce/divorcenj/divch1/index.cfm#ch1
Types of Divorce New Jersey
Types of Divorce
New Jersey has both a no-fault divorce and a fault-based divorce. You will find forms for four kinds of divorce in this manual: forms for a no-fault divorce, based on 18-month separation (Form 1A) and based on irreconcilable differences , and forms for two fault-based divorces, based on desertion and based on extreme cruelty.
Source: http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/family/divorce/divorcenj/divch1/index.cfm#ch1
New Jersey has both a no-fault divorce and a fault-based divorce. You will find forms for four kinds of divorce in this manual: forms for a no-fault divorce, based on 18-month separation (Form 1A) and based on irreconcilable differences , and forms for two fault-based divorces, based on desertion and based on extreme cruelty.
Source: http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/family/divorce/divorcenj/divch1/index.cfm#ch1
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