Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey

Re: divorce

If you are already divorced it is harder to change your situation than if you only have an order pending your divorce. If your wife has a pension paying an amount equal to what your pension pays you would not normally pay her a part of your pension. I need more information.

I would suggest that you call me to discuss your situation.

Gary Moore, Esquire

Hackensack, New Jersey

800 273 7933

www.garymooreattorneyatlaw.com

Re: divorce

Since I do not profess to know N. Jersey law, this will be a once over lightly treatment. To the reply already posted, I would simply add that it is a quite universal principal that a COURT ORDERED monthly spousal support payment may be modified only if there has been a sigificant

change in the financial circumstances after the date of entry of the Decree. The change should be one which was not foreseeable at the time the existing decree was entered.

Re: divorce

There is a substantial difference between the apportionment of a pension as marital property

in a divorce settlement and an award of spousal support to one of the parties. In the latter case,

the payment is, now, usually, only for a few years

while in the former the designated allotment on the pension may continue indefinitely, until one of the parties dies or, in the case of the recipient, possibly, remarries.

Apparently, the apportionment of part of your pension to your wife was a result of the equitable distribution of the marital property possessed by you and your former wife prior to the dissolution of your marriage, during which the court would've had the opportunity to consider any claims you could've asserted against your wife's pension and, for whatever reason, did not and declined to award you any part of her pension or, if there was a property settlement agreement incorporated in your decree of divorce, your wife's pension was, for whatever reason, not included as part of this settlement.

If in fact the above is correct and your former spouse was awarded part of your pension as a result of this equitable distibution process referenced above, it would be very unlikely that a court would now agree to modify an equitable distribution of marital property which has already been recognized in a final decree of divorce absent a showing of a material mistake of fact, fraud, or some other egregious defect which the court was unaware at the time the divorce decree was finalized.