Why Hire a Divorce Attorney: Taking Preventative Measures Before Custody or Alimony Issues Escalate

In our “do it yourself” society, individuals even shun securing legal representation and attempt to handle divorce proceedings on their own. Moskowitz Law Group, LLC vehemently discourages this approach for a number of reasons.

While sometimes a case might seem complicated or “messy” from the outset, at other times a legal proceeding can cause conflict, anger and bitterness to crop up from seemingly out of the blue. You not only need legal representation to make an emotional and confusing process less volatile and overwhelming, it is sometimes a good idea for your’s and your children’s own personal safety and livelihood. Allow us to share two, recent New Jersey horror stories:

Custody Issues Lead to Courthouse Shooting

After one man, D. M., believed that his ex-wife, C.B. , was endangering their children, he and his father, T.M., hatched a plan to kidnap the children and take them to Central America. While the father and his son were eventually apprehended, the conflict did not subside.

T.M. told his daughter-in-law (who he believed was sexually abusing his grandchildren), “I’m an old man, and I got a problem with my brain. I don’t care who I take out because I’m not going to live that long.” He and his son both told C.B., “I’ll bury you, and they’ll never find a body.” As one of the attorneys representing C.B. said, “There was just a lot of hatred there. Venom. It was sad.”

When C.B. and D.M. were scheduled to appear in family court in Wilmington, New Jersey for a child support arrears hearing, T.M. accompanied his son, armed with a gun and two hand-written death certificates (naming his daughter-in-law and her lawyer). T.M. shot and killed both C.B. and one of her friends who had accompanied her to court. He then proceeded to kill himself. D.M.’s and C.B.’s high-profile, conflict-ridden divorce, had now reached a tragic end.

Alimony Not Reduced for Mother Who Lost Her Job

For one resident of Bernards Township, alimony was a complete nightmare. L.S. was a mother who once earned a six-figure salary and owned a four bedroom house, but after her divorce was finalized, her finances took a turn for the worse. She spent huge sums on legal fees and agreed to pay her ex-husband $15,000 a year in alimony. She lost her job, however, and spent 10 months searching for a new job. While she was eventually hired by a new company, her new salary was almost half of what she had previously made. Even though her income and expenses were reduced, however, her alimony was not.

Because it was not certain whether this new job change was permanent or temporary, the judge decided that L.S. had “not provided sufficient information to establish that her financial circumstance was not a temporary, ephemeral situation.” New Jersey is one of the few states that allows judges to modify alimony judgments and agreements.

Why You Want Us On Your Side

While the two cases mentioned above are definitely more unique situations, difficult times bring out the worst in us and while divorce can seem like an easy solution, the aftermath can be ridden with legal problems. Despite the fact that our firm hopes that the divorce proceeding is smooth and stress-free for all of our clients, we are prepare if things take a turn for the worst. We stand beside our clients to help make a divorce proceeding as simple and calm as possible!

Whether you have questions about alimony, child custody, child support, division of assets or domestic violence, we have the answers you seek! We have achieved an Excellent rating on Avvo and we have the personal qualifications you can trust (check out our attorneys’ profiles and testimonials).

With decadesof combined legal experience on our side, we are proud to provide residents of Bergen County, New Jersey with the qualified legal services they deserve on their side! Call today to schedule your evaluation!