When family changes, the right counsel matters most.

What we handle

This is the umbrella page for our New Jersey family-law practice. Each matter below routes to its own page, where the procedure, the deadlines, and the controlling New Jersey statutes are explained at length. Divorce -- the largest of these matters -- has its own dedicated hub.

Divorce & separation

Grounds and residency, contested and uncontested filings, the Case Information Statement, the Early Settlement Panel, equitable distribution, high-net-worth matters, and post-judgment modifications all live on our divorce hub, along with the statewide county directory. Start there for the full process, step by step.

New Jersey divorce -- the complete guide →

Children & parenting

Custody, parenting time, child support, paternity establishment, modifications, and the distinct framework for grandparent rights -- see our grandparent rights page for the Moriarty v. Bradt, 177 N.J. 84 (2003)1 actual-harm analysis under N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.12 and the parental-rights framework recognized in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000)3.

• Child custody and parenting time -- joint legal custody, residential schedules, holiday plans, and what New Jersey courts actually weigh.
• Child support -- Child Support Guidelines calculations, deviations, college contributions, and modification under Lepis.
• Adoption -- stepparent, second-parent, agency, private, and adult adoption under the NJ Adoption Act (N.J.S.A. 9:3-374) -- home studies, consent and surrender, termination of parental rights, and finalization.
• Paternity establishment and disestablishment -- Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity, genetic-testing actions, marital presumption analysis, Putative Father Registry, birth-certificate amendment under the NJ Parentage Act (N.J.S.A. 9:17-385).
• Grandparent rights and visitation -- petitions under N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.12, the Moriarty v. Bradt1 actual-harm standard, and de facto parentage analysis.
• High-conflict custody -- forensic custody evaluations under R. 5:3-36, parenting coordinators under R. 5:8D7, reunification therapy, alienation-conduct litigation, DCPP and domestic-violence overlay.
• DCPP / DYFS defense -- when the Division of Child Protection and Permanency opens an investigation: your rights, the process, and how to respond.
• Juvenile defense -- delinquency charges against minors are heard in the Family Part, not adult criminal court: detention hearings, diversion, waiver motions, and the consequences that follow a juvenile adjudication.

Money & support

• Equitable distribution -- marital versus premarital property, the sixteen statutory factors, and how courts actually divide assets in practice.
• Alimony -- open-durational, limited-duration, rehabilitative, and reimbursement alimony, including how each is calculated and how it ends.
• Property settlement agreements -- the contract that governs support, property, and parenting obligations after the judgment, and a document that needs careful review before signature.
• Post-judgment modifications -- modifying custody, alimony, child support, and parenting-time orders after the divorce is final, under the Lepis v. Lepis, 83 N.J. 139 (1980)8 substantial-change-in-circumstances standard. Equitable distribution generally is not modifiable except through narrowRule 4:509 paths.
• Palimony & cohabitation agreements -- NJ palimony after the 2010 Statute of Frauds amendment (N.J.S.A. 25:1-5(h)10); pre-2010 oral palimony under the Kozlowski v. Kozlowski, 80 N.J. 378 (1979)11 framework; Maeker v. Ross, 219 N.J. 565 (2014)12 prospective-application rule; modern cohabitation agreements; alternative theories (contract, unjust enrichment, constructive trust); cohabitation impact on existing alimony under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(n)13 and Konzelman v. Konzelman, 158 N.J. 185 (1999)14.

Protection & resolution

• Domestic violence -- TROs & FROs -- filing or defending against a Temporary or Final Restraining Order under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act.
• Mediation -- when both parties want resolution without trial: a faster, less expensive, more private path.
• Pre-nups, post-nups, and cohabitation agreements -- the contracts that protect both partners, drafted before the marriage or executed during it.

Specialized matters

• LGBTQ+ family law -- same-sex marriage and divorce, gestational surrogacy under the NJ Gestational Carrier Agreement Act (N.J.S.A. 9:17-6015), psychological-parent doctrine under V.C. v. M.J.B., 163 N.J. 200 (2000)16, civil-union and domestic-partnership dissolution.
• Military divorce -- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq.17) stays and default protections; Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (10 U.S.C. § 140818) military retirement division; 10/10 rule for direct DFAS payment; 20/20/20 Tricare; deployment-period custody; MPDO drafting; Reserve/Guard considerations.
• Annulment -- NJ civil annulment under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-119's six statutory grounds (bigamy, consanguinity, nonage, impotence, fraud/duress, mental incapacity); void vs. voidable distinction; ratification analysis; sham-marriage / immigration-fraud annulments; civil vs. religious annulment.
• Divorce & estate planning -- coordinated family-law and estate-planning work so beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and guardian nominations move in step with the divorce or custody matter.

Looking for principled answers to the questions clients ask most? Visit our New Jersey Divorce Law FAQ →

Where the procedure and the checklists live

This is an umbrella page: it routes you to the right matter rather than restating each one at length. Divorce is the largest, and its full sequence -- grounds and residency, the Case Information Statement, the Early Settlement Panel, equitable distribution, and the first steps that protect the record before you file -- is laid out stage by stage, with the statutes and controlling authority, on our New Jersey divorce guide. That page also carries the statewide county directory, so you can start where your case belongs.

The other matters have their own pages in the same depth: custody standards and parenting time on child custody, the guideline math on child support and alimony, restraining orders on domestic violence, and settlement without trial on mediation. Use the matters above to find the page that fits, or call and we will point you to it.

How fees work in a New Jersey family-law matter

Every family-law matter is different, but our pricing approach is direct. For uncontested divorces and prenuptial agreements, we offer flat-fee engagements quoted at the consultation. For contested matters -- divorce, custody, alimony, equitable-distribution disputes -- we work on a written retainer with an hourly rate disclosed before the engagement begins, billed in tenth-of-an-hour increments, and reviewed monthly. We explain the fee structure before engagement and give a realistic cost range when the facts allow one.

• Initial case evaluation -- confidential consultation request.
• Uncontested divorce -- flat fee, quoted at consultation.
• Prenuptial agreement -- flat fee, quoted at consultation.
• Contested matters -- retainer-based; written fee structure provided in writing at engagement.

Fees are only half of the cost question. The other half is what a matter costs when it is handled in pieces -- a divorce at one firm, an updated will at another, a beneficiary form no one revisited. Family law rarely ends at the judgment, and the next section is the part most clients do not see coming.

Family law and estate planning, together.

Divorce silently invalidates parts of your old estate plan and leaves other parts dangerously active. Beneficiary designations on life-insurance policies and retirement accounts do not automatically update on divorce. A power of attorney naming your spouse continues to operate until you revoke it. Guardian nominations for minor children, trustee selections, and trust funding all need to be revisited. Because Simon Law Group handles both family law and estate planning, the divorce attorney and the estate-planning attorney can coordinate the legal work instead of forcing you to bridge the gap between separate firms. See our Divorce and Estate Planning page for the full overlap.

Your family-law team

Simon Law Group's family-law practice is led by Joel A. Friedman, Esq., who has focused on New Jersey family law for over two decades. Joel handles divorce, custody, support, alimony, equitable distribution, and restraining-order matters from the first intake call through settlement, trial, and post-judgment proceedings. He is supported by Managing Partner Britt J. Simon, Esq. on coordinated family-law-and-estate matters where the divorce and estate plan need to move in lockstep, and by Erik Frins, Esq. and John E. Malchow, Esq. when a family matter touches civil litigation, personal injury, or bankruptcy. The team strategizes together throughout the matter; the family bench draws on civil, injury, and bankruptcy expertise when your case touches those areas, with attorney oversight throughout the engagement. Profiles, backgrounds, and bar admissions are on the family-law attorneys page.

Identify the next court decision and the record it will require

A useful first review starts with posture: no case filed, a pending motion, discovery, settlement, trial, or a post-judgment dispute. Counsel can then identify the decision the Family Part must make, the legal standard, the documents and testimony that matter, and whether an urgent safety or deadline issue changes the sequence. Bring all current court orders and pleadings, the next court notice, recent financial disclosures, and a dated summary of the parenting or support issue. Call (800) 709-1131 or use the intake form to request review by the family-law team described above.