Frequently Asked Questions
Should I mediate?
We will discuss whether mediation is the best strategy for your case during the initial consultation. If you need referrals we will provide trusted referrals.
Are you aggressive?
Clients need smart lawyers not lawyers who identify as only "aggressive". We consider ourselves chess players not boxers. With boxers the thing most bloodied is often the client's checkbook.
If you have received a referral to our firm, ask the referral source if we were good strategists, aggressive when it promoted client interests and collaborative when collaboration best served client interests.
Do you handle Wills, Estates, Probate, Real Estate, Bankruptcy, Patents, Criminal, Personal Injury?
If you have a matter outside of Family Law, we will be happy to provide a referral to a well-regarded practitioner or expert attorney. We do not receive referral fees from anyone except in accident, malpractice, dog bite or other personal injury matters where our referral to a Certified Attorney does not cost the client any additional fee because the fees are contingency fees based on the outcome. In those cases referral fees are permitted by New Jersey ethics.
What is an expert witness?
In some cases forensic accountants, psychologists or even handwriting analysts and others are required to make your case understandable to the trier of fact (Judge) or a mediator or arbitrator if you choose arbitration. We have brought in experts as part of the team for client success and have trusted experts that we ask clients to engage whenever client success and better outcomes require the assistance of an expert.
Is NJ a 50/50 (split) custody state?
As the result of a ruling in 2017 in the case of the New Jersey Supreme Court made clear that it favors 50/50. New Jersey does not blanketly award 50-50 because New Jersey law still analyzes the "best-interests" of the child. In cases where schedules or distance between parent homes do not allow for 50-50 or harm may come to the child in the care of one parent (or has in the past), a thorough initial consultation will reveal whether 50/50 is likely to be ordered in your case.
We have recently been successful in defeating 50/50 custody in demonstrating that:
- Pressures of COVID brought out serious phycological symptoms in a parent that were not previously obvious.
- Work Schedules do not allow for 50/50.
- Domestic Violence - an abuser who involved his child in Domestic Violence even if inflicting no physical harm to the child should not have 50/50.
- An female batterer who was abusing a male victim of Domestic Violence should not have unsupervised parenting time given the level of battering and threats she made.
- A drug abusing, neglectful parent who had 50/50 custody during separation and prior to the court’s ruling in a hearing lost custody as the result of the hearing.
Can I relocate to another state with my child, then ask the court for permission after I move?
No - unless you have a very clear writing granting permission from the other parent that has been reviewed by an attorney, you should not move out of the state before receiving a court order allowing the relocation.
Is palimony still available in New Jersey?
Yes - but it is fact specific-please call for a consultation.
Saminski Fuller Family Law, LLC
Hablamos Español • Mówimy Po Polsku
Our divorce and family law attorneys can assist you from our multiple office locations in New Jersey:
221 River Street
9th Floor
Hoboken, NJ 07030
201-653-0300
123 South Avenue East
3rd Floor
Westfield, NJ 07090
908-301-1111
2500 Plaza 5, 25th floor
Harborside Financial Center
Jersey City, NJ 07311
201-795-5566
1704 Maxwell Drive
Suite 203
Wall, NJ 07719
732-221-8347
We are known as the divorce lawyers, family law attorneys, child support lawyers, custody lawyers, alimony lawyers and spousal support lawyers of Saminski Fuller Family Law, LLC. We represent clients in Northern New Jersey, Central New Jersey and Southern New Jersey. We represent clients in the communities of: Hudson County: Jersey City, Bayonne, Hoboken, Kearny, Guttenberg, Hackensack, Secaucus, Weehawken, West New York, Union City, North Bergen, Passaic County: Clifton, Bloomingdale, Haledon, Little Falls, Paterson, Pompton Lakes, Ringwood, Totowa, Wayne, West Milford, Woodland Park, Essex County: East Newark, Bloomfield, Cedar Grove, South Orange, Essex Fells, Glen Ridge, Maplewood, Montclair, Nutley, West Orange, Bergen County: Hackensack, Paramus, Fair Lawn, Englewood, Edgewater, Bergenfield, Teaneck, Rutherford, Hasbrouck, Heights, Fairview, Bogota, Union County: Westfield, Clark, Cranford, Fanwood, Kenilworth, Mountainside, Plainfield, Roselle, Elizabeth, Hillside, Scotch Plains, Summit, Linden, Morris County: Morristown, Randolph, Dover, Parsippany Troy Hills, Denville, Pequannock, Cedar Knolls, Whippany, Mount Olive, Hanover, Rockaway, Montville, Mount Arlington, Chester, Wharton, Madison, Freehold, New Brunswick, North Hudson, as well as residents of Hunterdon County, Ocean County, Monmouth County, Somerset County, Middlesex County and Warren County.