Social Security Benefits and Divorce

An individual is entitled to collect Social Security benefits based on his or her own earnings history, or 50% of the spouse or former spouse’s benefit, if it is greater than the individual’s, or 100% if the spouse is deceased. In the event that the individual is divorced, it must have been a marriage of…

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Permanent Alimony Reform

Currently New Jersey still provides for permanent alimony under certain circumstances including long term marriage and/or a significant discrepancy in earning capacity between the parties.  According to a recent article by Elizabeth Benedict in the Huff Post, times they are a changing.  A grassroots movement in Massachusetts begun by an individual, Stephen Hitner, brought the…

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The Impact of Generosity in a Successful Marriage or Divorce

The New York Times recently reported on the role of generosity in a successful marriage.  The research came from a recent study of 2,870 men and women conducted by the University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project (“State of Our Unions” report from the National Marriage Project). According to the research cited in the article, “[w]hile…

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Top 10 Divorce Rulings

Family law varies from state to state, however, historically the US Supreme Court and other high level courts have handed down some pivotal divorce rulings. The following is the very interesting Huff Post list of top 10 divorce cases. Diemer v. Diemer, 1960, established that “refusal to have sex with one’s spouse constitutes abandonment of…

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Do I Have to Appear in Court for Divorce Mediation?

The state which has jurisdiction over the parties’ divorce dictates whether they ever have to appear in court before a judge.  If the couple lives in Pennsylvania, the answer is no. So long as both parties are cooperating with the divorce process and procedure, they never have to go to court in order to obtain a consensual divorce. If the…

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