What’s the Deal with New Jersey Name Changes?

Not surprisingly, given the risk of identity theft and fraud, to change your name, New Jersey requires forms to fill out and bureaucratic hoops to jump through. You may or may not need legal help changing your name, which could involve another legal matter, like a divorce. Kingston Law Group is here to help you change your or your child’s name.

While you are permitted to call yourself any name you want, you can’t officially change your legal name without a court order. After you get one, you may update your government IDs, such as your driver’s license, passport, birth certificate, and Social Security, to match who you are. After that, you may change your name on bank accounts, investment accounts, property records, and credit cards.

Obtaining a Court Order

There are several forms to complete and send to the court online or by mail. You must pay the administrative fee and appear before a judge, possibly via Zoom. If a minor is involved, the process is the same, but if they’re younger than 18, there’s a different set of forms (found here).

There are five forms in this packet. They include the following:

• Verified Complaint: This has essential information, such as your birth name, why you’re changing your name, and your new, preferred name. The court doesn’t need your life story. Keep it simple
• Certification of Confidential Information for Name Change: This form gives the court critical and confidential information, such as your Social Security number
• Order Fixing Date of Hearing: This will schedule your courthouse hearing. Complete the personal information at the top of the form. The court will finish the rest
• Final Judgment and Final Judgment Addendum: This will finalize your name change. Fill out your personal information in the top section. After the hearing, the court will sign and complete the forms. Certified copies of the Final Judgment can be used to update your official IDs and documents
• Civil Case Information Statement (CIS): This summarizes your case and can be confusing. Here are the instructions. The name change case type number is 151, and there are different forms when the person involved is younger than 18

If you feel overwhelmed, we help clients with name change matters.

Pay the Administrative Fee

You can pay the fee for filing these forms online or use a money order or check payable to “Treasurer, State of New Jersey”. If you can demonstrate financial hardship, you might avoid the fee. You must provide evidence like welfare documents, paystubs, bank statements, and unemployment documents.

Send the Documents and Payment to the Court

You can go online through the NJ Courts’ online system or use the mail.

Look at the Returned Copies

If you mailed the documents, you should get back (in your self-addressed, stamped envelope) copies of the:

• Verified Complaint
• Certification of Confidential Information for Name Change
• Order Fixing Date of Hearing forms using the self-addressed envelope you provided.

They should include your docket number, which identifies your case. It’ll be needed on future forms and papers concerning your name change.

Going to Court

Unless the matter is heard via Zoom, go to the courtroom early on the day listed on your Order Fixing Date of Hearing form to see the judge. Bring proof of your birth name for identification. Dress professionally and relax. No one’s there to give you a hard time. This may be your only name change. They’re processed at the court all the time.

The judge will ask you:

• About your name change
• Whether you want to try to avoid past debt or criminal history, a standard question
• If you’re asked why you want the change, you could say it’s your preferred name, as you stated in your application, and give additional details as needed
• If this is part of transitioning to another gender and you’re asked about it, if you’re comfortable, you can answer or respectfully state it’s private medical information
• When the hearing is complete, the judge should sign your Final Judgment and give you a copy

Think before you speak and respond to questions truthfully and confidently. The hearing will be over before you know it.

Get Final Judgment Certified Copies

You’ll need these copies to legally change your name on federal and state IDs. Photocopies won’t work. Get certified copies of your Final Judgment form, fill out the state courts’ Records Request Form, and submit it online, via email, or by mail.

 File Your Name Change

Send a certified copy of the final order and the filing fee to the NJ Treasury Department’s Division of Revenue within 45 days of receiving your court-approved name change. A copy of your final judgment should be returned to you.

Are You Thinking About Changing Your Name — or Have Already Committed to Changing It?

Either way, contact us and arrange a near-term initial consultation at a reduced hourly rate. We are “Compassionate Counsel, Tough Advocates” and ready to help you and your family! Call us at 609-683-7400 or contact us online. Call today. You will be glad you did.

Religious Discrimination Cases Come in Two Flavors: Failure to Accommodate and Disparate Treatment

Religious, disability, and pregnancy discrimination cases can involve either or both of these situations. Depending on the facts, a plaintiff may win with one claim and lose on the other. There can be many moving parts to a discrimination lawsuit. If you feel you’ve been illegally discriminated against due to your religion, call Kingston Law Group to discuss what’s going on.

Failure to Accommodate

Under state and federal laws, some workers can ask for reasonable accommodations to help them with specific issues. Someone with a disability or pregnancy who typically stands all day may ask to be able to sit on occasion (for example) as a necessary and reasonable accommodation to perform an essential job function that doesn’t pose an undue hardship on the employer.

The employee would need to establish she’s pregnant or disabled and that the request is necessary due to her condition for her to perform her job. The types of accommodations are only limited by the employee’s disability, the kind of work they do, and what they need to safely perform that work.

Employees can also ask for a reasonable accommodation to practice their religious beliefs. This often comes up with a person’s schedule. They may ask for a day off for a particular religious holiday or that they not work a specific day of the week because that’s their sabbath or day of rest.

The employer could dispute the need for the accommodation or claim it would cause an undue burden on their operations. Both parties should discuss their needs and ways to meet them. In most instances, the parties should be able to work out an acceptable accommodation.

In 2023, the US Supreme Court clarified what employers must consider before deciding whether a requested religious accommodation presents an undue hardship. In the case of Groff v. De Joy, the Court stated that the employer needed to show more than a minimal (or de minimis in legalese) effort or cost to the accommodation before it could be considered an undue burden on their operations. They must show a substantial cost based on the employer’s resources.

Disparate Treatment

This type of case involves hiring, unequal terms and conditions of employment, discipline, and/or termination based on the person’s protected class (in this case, religion). The plaintiff could show they were discriminated against by establishing others not of their faith were treated better in similar circumstances, raising an inference of illegal bias.

This is usually done through testimony and personnel records of the plaintiff and their co-workers. Disparate treatment could be established by showing that while the plaintiff was disciplined for breaking one of the employer’s rules, for example, others not of that religion who broke the same rules were treated better.

To prove disparate treatment, a plaintiff must show that they:

• Are a member of a protected class
• Were qualified for the benefit in question
• Were denied the benefit
• The benefit was still available after they were denied it

The plaintiff has the initial burden of producing evidence of discrimination that raises an inference illegal bias may be to blame. It’s then up to the employer to produce a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for their actions. If they do so, it’s up to the plaintiff to debunk the employer’s story and establish that illegal discrimination caused the adverse employment action against them.

In a decision by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division last year, the court upheld a dismissal of a case brought by a former employee, Miriam Lax. She alleged Hackensack Meridien Health, Inc. fired her because she’s Jewish. The lower court dismissed the case before it went to trial, citing a lack of evidence to support her allegations.

The hospital stated Lax broke hospital rules and lied to her supervisor. She wasn’t allowed to work at home and evidence showed she routinely came to work about two hours late. Lax missed a morning staff meeting, claiming she had to attend another meeting at the hospital. But records showed she wasn’t there that morning.

The hospital provided evidence showing that other non-Jewish employees had been fired for similar reasons. Lax didn’t dispute being regularly late. She claimed she worked at home, which wasn’t permitted. The court stated that Lax didn’t have “any evidence” supporting her discrimination claim.

While employers have a higher hurdle to clear when claiming undue hardship justifies denying a request for accommodating an employee’s religious beliefs, it’s the same old same old for plaintiffs in disparate treatment cases. They have the burden of proving it’s more likely than not their religion was a reason actions were taken against them.

Has Your Employer Discriminated Against You?

Do you have questions about illegal employment discrimination or believe your employer took action against you because of your religion? If so, we will listen to your facts, explain the law, and suggest right and reasonable approaches for relief.

Kingston Law Group provides compassionate counsel and tough advocacy. We are ready to help you, your loved ones, and friends. Call us at +1-609-683-7400 or contact us online to schedule a near-term initial consultation at a reduced hourly rate. Call us today. You’ll be glad you did.

Dissipation & Divorce: When a Spouse Spends Money on Themselves Expecting You’ll Pay Half

An essential part of a New Jersey divorce is equitable distribution. It involves identifying, valuing, and fairly distributing joint marital assets and debts. One way for your X2B to put a thumb on the scale is to waste or dissipate joint marital assets during the separation and divorce.  Sometimes, one party spends liquid assets or charges a joint credit card on a vacation or a sports car.  The thought is, they will enjoy the purchase with the hope that you will share in 50% of the expense – through drained assets or a bigger credit card bill.  How can you deal with this problem successfully?

What is Equitable Distribution?

Equitable distribution’s purpose is to make a divorce as materially fair as possible between the spouses. Both sides split the assets and resources fairly to help them start their lives again. New Jersey law spells out factors for a judge to consider for this balancing act, including this one:

The contribution of each party to the acquisition, dissipation, preservation, depreciation[,] or appreciation in the amount or value of the marital property, or the property acquired during the civil union as well as the contribution of a party as a homemaker…

The parties negotiate property issues, whether directly or through their lawyers, or through supervised negotiations in mediation, or by arbitration, or at trial if nothing else works.

Before deciding on an equitable distribution award, the negotiators or the arbitrator or the trial court decides which property or debts are truly marital and which belong to the spouses separately. If allocation is warranted, the parties or arbitrator or judge must decide the following:

• What property is eligible for distribution?
• What is its value for distribution purposes?
• How to equitably make the allocation?

There’s a presumption property or debts acquired during a marriage are joint assets/debts and will be subject to equitable distribution. There is no presumption in New Jersey law that the assets and debts will be divided and distributed 50-50, although most times that is exactly what happens. The spouse claiming property or debts should not be divided has the burden of proving that.

What Are Waste and Dissipation?

As in most marriages, until separation or divorce, both spouses can spend or save whatever they want, subject only to the other party’s possible veto, hopefully amicably. If divorce is on the horizon, however, extravagant spending or debt creation that only benefits one spouse becomes suspect, because it shrinks the marital estate.  Unless s/he challenges the expense, the non-spending spouse could get a reduced share of marital assets or an increased share of marital debts.

Dissipation can be defined as the use of marital property:

• For one spouse’s benefit
• The purpose is unrelated to the marriage
• While the marriage is already in jeopardy=

State courts have found the following as examples of challengeable dissipation or waste:

• Funds sent outside the US to a spouse’s family while the two consider getting divorced
• Intentional poor maintenance of a joint asset, like the house, thereby decreasing its value
• After the divorce complaint is filed, one party’s selling off marital assets to pay personal debts or family support obligations

Dissipation probably will not be found in the following circumstances:

• Bad business decisions, if made as part of a good faith effort to preserve marital assets
• Losing money in the stock market, if there’s no intent to dissipate assets
• Spending for non-marital purposes when the marriage is intact

These cases are very fact-specific and focus on intent. Liquidating stocks to generate cash to buy something only one spouse will benefit from differs from using it to help a closely held business.

How Do You Prove Dissipation?

When courts decide what is or isn’t dissipation, they’ll consider the following factors:

• The timing of the spending relative to the parties’ separation
• Whether the spending is typical of what occurred while the marriage was intact
• Whether the expenditures benefited the marriage, or one spouse benefited to the exclusion of the other
• The amount and need for the spending: unusually large expenses relative to the marital lifestyle will be more suspect

Like other divorce issues, decisions on the dissipation of marital assets are fact-driven.

What are the Consequences If Dissipation Is Proven?

The disadvantaged party can seek recovery as part of the divorce action, perhaps including the property dissipation or waste issue in the Divorce Complaint, and asking the Judge to do the following:

• Add the dissipation or waste value back to the asset or column and give the disadvantaged party a credit for the reduced value or increased debt, with the malefactor paying the difference
• Asking the Court to order the advantage-taker to desist and hold the disadvantaged party harmless from further losses, including counsel fees and costs for the disadvantaged party to defend
• Your spouse could increase his/her payment of spousal support
• You’ll receive a greater share of the marital assets
• Your spouse will be responsible for a greater share of your marital debt

The goal is for the disadvantaged spouse to be “made whole” for the other spouse’s misconduct.

Can Dissipation Be Prevented?

The following may be practical steps to prevent your spouse from spending marital assets on themselves:

• Notice of Lis Pendens: This can be filed against real estate that is connected to the divorce action. It gives third parties a warning that the filer has a claim against the property and not to buy it without finding out the details.
• Order to freeze accounts: The court may issue an order that both parties shall not dissipate, withdraw, use joint credit, or use remaining marital assets to create equity
• Shut down open lines of credit: Both parties may have signed on for joint credit cards or a home equity line of credit. Joint credit cards and lines of credit should be closed promptly.

An ounce of prevention will assure a pound of cure.  This is especially true if the marital estate is sizable, complex, or both.

Are You Thinking About a Divorce — or Already Committed to It?

Either way, contact us and arrange for a near-term initial consultation at a reduced hourly rate. We will listen to your facts, explain the law, and suggest right and reasonable approaches for your children and you. We are “Compassionate Counsel, Tough Advocates.  We are ready to help you! Call us at 609-683-7400 or contact us online. Call today. You will be glad you did.

Your Former Employer Handled Your Layoff Poorly. Did They Also Violate the Law?

Layoffs are nothing new, but how we respond to them is changing. Instead of ex-employees feeling shame for the situation, more are open about it. They share their feelings online, especially when ham-fisted employers treat laid-off employees like unwanted inventory. Whether you feel your former employer treated you with respect and fairness or they coldly kicked you to the curb, they may have violated state or federal laws.

Social Media Allows These Private Dramas to be Broadcast Worldwide

You can easily find videos of people sharing their experiences before, during, and after being laid off, according to Axios. With more people working remotely and having fewer connections to co-workers, this has become a modern way to cope. It can also show the world how poorly many employers handle the situation. Some people learn through a Slack message or email because they are laid off because management feels it doesn’t even merit a phone or Zoom call.

Potentially, these videos could show an employer’s lack of empathy for someone who may have devoted years of their life to a company if not provide evidence of an employer’s illegal actions. These widespread videos harm an employer’s reputation, and their documented indifference to their workers may make it harder for them to recruit future employees.

What Makes a Layoff Illegal?

Ending someone’s employment is generally legal, but the devil is in the details. There could be any number of issues that could make your job termination illegal, including the following:

1. Discrimination

You belong to a protected class under civil rights laws. Your termination would be illegal if you were chosen because you are in a disfavored group due to your:

• Race or color
• Religion or creed, or you have no religion or creed
• National origin, nationality, or ancestry
• Sex, pregnancy, or the fact you’re breastfeeding
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity or expression
• Disability
• Marital or domestic partnership/civil union status
• Liability for military service
• Age
• Genetic information, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, or your refusal to submit to a genetic test or make test results available to your employer

These cases are fact-specific and require evidence to back up your claim. That could be:

• Past instances of discrimination
• Written or oral communications showing a bias against your protected group
• The underlying facts of your layoff show a discriminatory intent against people like you

Some employers are more sophisticated than others when hiding their true motivations in letting someone go, so the difficulty in proving these cases varies.

2. Violating a Contract

If you were bound by a contract while working, whether individually or as part of a unionized workforce, that contract may spell out under what conditions you could lose your job, how you would be chosen, and what severance package (if any) you would receive. You should read that contract to see if your ex-employer fulfilled their obligations.

3. In Retaliation for Prior, Lawful Conduct

Your employer may have used a drop in demand for their products or services as an excuse to get you out of the workplace. You may have done or said something you had every right to do or say, but that angered your employer and your layoff is their way to “get even.”

Your lawful acts or words could include the following:

• Seeking or receiving unemployment or workers’ compensation benefits, Family Medical Leave Act leave, unpaid wages, proper employment classification, or accommodations to a disability
• Discussing the terms and conditions of your employment (such as pay rates and benefits) with other employees
• Discussing with others possibly unionizing the workforce or actively working towards that goal
• Reporting to management or a government agency your employer’s illegal or unethical actions
• Reporting illegal discrimination internally, to a government agency or filing a lawsuit based on alleged discriminatory acts
• Acting as a witness to support another’s discrimination claim or participating in a discrimination investigation or lawsuit

The evidence needed to support these claims is similar to discrimination claims, but the difference is in what you did, not who you are.

Was Your Layoff Illegal?

The problem may not be why you were selected to lose your job but how you were laid off. Under New Jersey’s WARN Act:

• Employers with a hundred or more employees (including part-time workers) must give at least 90 days advance notice to affected employees before they lose their jobs as part of a mass layoff (50 or more job terminations) not caused by the closing or transferring of operations
• Employers must pay laid-off employees a severance of one week of pay for each full year of employment

If an employee can prove the law was violated, they may recover attorneys’ fees and up to twice the severance payment they recover.

How Would a Severance Package Impact My Ability to Pursue Legal Action?

Employers frequently offer money and extended benefits (like health insurance payments) to departing employees in exchange for them not disparaging them (saying anything negative about them, like posting a damaging layoff video online) and waiving any right to pursue legal action against them. This would cover legal issues about how your employer handled the layoff and anything else the employer did wrongfully while you worked there (within the relevant NJ Statute of Limitations).

Contact our office if you’re offered such benefits in exchange for signing a Separation or Severance Agreement. We can discuss the strength of any legal claims you may have and the payment amount before you sign. We may be able to improve their offer and make it worth settling.

Do You Expect to be Laid Off, Has it Already Happened, and What do You Need to Learn About Your Legal Rights? Kingston Law Group Could Help You.

Our Employment Law Team protect employees’ rights and helps them hold employers accountable for illegal behavior and unlawful policies of any stripe. If you have questions about your layoff rights, email or call us at 609-683-7400 to arrange a near-term and reduced rate legal consultation at our Princeton area law offices. You will be glad you did!

Could Renovating Your Home Tear Down Your Marriage?

Marriages can be like icebergs. You only see a small part of the trouble beneath the water line. Many things could happen to force the iceberg to flip, exposing the conflict underneath. It might be issues with their children, financial problems, health issues, or home renovation. There are many potential problems when changing your home, including divorce.

Survey of Homeowners Finds Renovations Can Be Challenging for Relationships

Projects are a mixed bag of good and bad for homeowners, according to the 2018 Houzz Remodeling & Relationships Survey. The survey of 1,300 people who renovated a home with their partner or spouse found that:

• 7% considered separation or divorce during the process (down from 12% in the 2016 survey)
• 33% stated the process was frustrating
• 30% noted the most significant problems were agreeing on products, materials, and finishes
• 29% reported communications problems
• 25% had difficulty staying within budget
• 25% had trouble agreeing to styles or designs

On the upside:

• 59% stated it was a collaborative process
• 53% reported the process was fulfilling

Participants made suggestions to make renovations less painful:

• 34% make compromises
• 29% get suggestions from home professionals

Home renovations can test a relationship. Would yours pass?

Fundamental Differences Exposed During Renovation Project

A major project can create major conflicts, as a recent Washington Post article illustrates. It focuses on Victoria Barnes and Paul Keifrider and their decade-long renovation of their Victorian home in Merchantville, outside Philadelphia.

The renovation was completed in 2021, but the experience was fresh in the married couple’s minds. Paul wanted to take action and start the project with little planning. Due to his impatience, much of what he did ended up having to be redone, which frustrated them.

Paul sees lack of planning as less of an issue than his wife’s changed mind and ideas that struck in the middle of the work. Victoria wanted a custom-built bathroom cabinet created, and a free piano found on Craigslist converted to a kitchen island while he worked on the project.

Victoria admits she made her husband “incredibly angry” but blames him for charging forward without discussing issues and being upset when she disagreed with what he wanted to do.

“There were lots of times — maybe all of the time — that we were just miserable with each other,” Victoria admits. “And yeah, it’s some kind of strange miracle that we didn’t get divorced.” Paul says they didn’t have time to divorce.

The two faced issues beyond their renovations. Victoria manages rental properties, and Paul repairs machinery full-time. They took on the renovation work themselves and lived in their own construction zone. Hiring contractors frees up a lot of time but makes the project a lot more expensive.

Their backgrounds influenced their approaches to the project. Victoria grew up in a home where things never got fixed, and Paul came from a long line of doers. “If there’s a project hanging over my head, I want to move forward with it.”

The house is done, and the two remain married. Would they renovate again? “We would do it again because we’re idiots,” Victoria says. “Or, I’m an idiot and Paul has a short memory.” Paul replies, “We love to suffer.”

Lack of Communication May Drive Disagreements and Frustration

Lack of communication, perhaps out of fear a spouse may disagree or a desire for control, can be significant problems. One divorce attorney cited a case where a spouse didn’t know the costs until contracts were signed. She reports that 95% of the couple’s marital assets are invested in the home, which has a mold problem and is unoccupied.

Before starting a renovation, a couple should openly discuss the emotional and financial toll it could produce. As work progresses, problems and disagreements may arise. They need to be addressed, not allowed to fester, because something minor may trigger a major emotional explosion. Timing is everything. Decisions might be better made after the parties cool off, not during an argument.

Lawyers, Therapists, and Building Professionals Offer Advice

Before starting a remodel, ensure your relationship is as solid as the deck you want because the project may take on a life of its own. The Post states that many personal issues become involved:

• Our relationships with money
• Comfort and happiness vs. saving money and financial security
• How we want others to perceive us
• Our experiences growing up. Someone growing up in poverty may want a more comfortable, well-appointed home
• Our quest for happiness

Building professionals with enough experience try to screen out clients with troubled relationships. Warning signs for them (and you) are:

• Meetings with one spouse, not both
• One talks over, or for, the other spouse

One professional will turn down projects because of relationship problems he perceives but will lie to the couple and blame the refusal on the plan’s complexity. One architect the Post spoke to had three projects impacted by relationship issues:

• One couple planned a $2.5 million project, which would be the subject of an HGTV program. The money was available, yet they didn’t want to invest it in a project, given their relationship problems
• Another couple constantly argued during meetings. They separated a month after the home was complete
• A husband from a wealthy family pushed the couple’s budget to the limit, against his wife’s wishes. A year after moving in, he lost his job, putting the financial burden on his wife. Being land-rich and money-poor may have contributed to their divorce

The couple’s faulty relationship can’t bear its weight. If you plan an extensive renovation, is your marriage’s foundation strong enough?

If It’s Time for a Divorce, We Can Help

Whether a home renovation or another event led to your relationship breaking down, we will listen to your facts, explain the law, and suggest reasonable approaches for your children and you. We are compassionate counsel and tough advocates, and we are ready to help you! Call us at 609-683-7400 or contact us online to schedule a near-term initial consultation at a reduced rate. Call today. You will be glad you did.

New Federal Rule Means Some Salaried Workers Must Be Paid More or They Qualify for Overtime

 Many employers wrongly believe that paying a worker a salary instead of hourly disqualifies the salaried employee from overtime.  The law may appear simple, but it can be dangerously more complex and nuanced than some may think.

From Whence Does the Salary Exemption Rule Come?

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), nearly all employees are entitled to overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week. Salaried workers are exempt from overtime pay if they earn more than a maximum level set by the federal Department of Labor (DOL), currently $43,888 annually.

There is a second factor:  whether a worker, regardless of annual income, is exempt from OT for “executive, administrative, and professional” duties. This factor is “squishy” and subjective. It also can produce incorrect results. The income maximum is easier to understand and apply.

How Many Are Affected?

The Biden administration’s new threshold could make four million more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay.  If an employer wants to avoid paying overtime, they must exceed the annual pay.

How Long Will the New Rule Last?

The federal courts have four legal challenges seeking to reset or eliminate the salary requirement. We don’t know if they’ll be successful. Employers claim:

• The DOL went beyond its authority, as stated in the FLSA, so their decision is illegal. Since the FLSA doesn’t mention salary levels, the DOL can’t add that to the test
• The DOL didn’t give enough weight to employers’ concerns before making the decision

The FLSA empowers the Secretary of Labor to “define and delimit” the terms of this “white collar” exemption. If the federal courts agree with employers that setting a minimum salary is too great a stretch, American workers will find themselves in a pay rate limbo, which hasn’t existed for about 80 years. It will also make these cases more complex for the DOL and employers.

Basing salary/overtime cases just on job duties creates a lot of uncertainty, as contrasted with the “bright line” salary level rule. Although employers may not want to pay employees more, just to avoid their OT rights, employers also don’t like uncertainty when calculating and planning their payroll.

After employers challenged the salary level set by the Obama administration, one federal judge stated that the US DOL lacked the authority to set a minimum pay level but later backtracked, saying the level was so high that the FLSA’s job duties test was irrelevant. In a 2023 case involving overtime pay, three of the nine justices on the US Supreme Court stated in dissenting opinions the DOL lacks authority under the FLSA to include pay level as part of the salary test.

Unless and until a court stops the rule, it continues to apply to America’s salaried workers and may give millions of them pay raises.

Has Your Employer Stolen Your Pay?

If you have questions about being misclassified as a salaried employee and the pay you may be missing, or you believe you have a legal claim, we will listen to your facts, explain the law, and suggest right and reasonable approaches for relief.

Kingston Law Group provides compassionate counsel and tough advocacy. We are ready to help you, your loved ones, and friends. Call us at +1-609-683-7400 or contact us online to schedule a near-term initial consultation at a reduced hourly rate. Call today. You’ll be glad you did.

Is it Time to Divorce Your Alcoholic Spouse?

If your spouse can’t or won’t stop drinking alcohol to excess and it’s adversely affecting your relationship, it may be time to end the marriage. Alcohol dependence is a complex condition that won’t go away without persistent action by your spouse. If you’ve had enough and the impact upon the kids and you is bad, then it may be time to close a chapter in your life and open a new one.

People With Drinking Disorders are More Likely to Divorce

If you’re in this situation, don’t blame yourself. You can’t control everything.

Those with an alcohol use disorder (AUD) are much more likely to divorce, according to findings of a survey of 43,083 adults. The results were published in a 2014 article in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol Drugs. Researchers found that 48.3% of those with AUD had divorced in the past, while only 30.8% divorced where alcohol was not an issue.

When Is it Best Time to Divorce Your Alcoholic Spouse?

Divorce is easier said than done, especially if you’re in a long-term relationship and you have children. But it’s a manageable process that can leave you much better off than when you started. Promises Behavior Health has these suggestions on when it’s time to end your relationship.

1. You’re Being Negatively Impacted

Your physical and emotional well-being are suffering, causing practical problems in your everyday life. You may be dealing with the following issues:

• Anxiety and depression
• Your own substance abuse problems
• You’re not keeping up with your work, family, or personal obligations
• You don’t sleep well
• You’re not taking care of yourself or your children
• You may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Financial problems caused by your spouse’s alcohol abuse
• You channel your anger at others, not your spouse

These are all red flags for you to make changes in your life.

2. You Spouse Shows No Signs of Stopping

Your spouse may be at any one of these challenge points in their addiction, including:

• They don’t understand they have a problem, recognize what’s going on, or grasp the destruction that’s going on;
• They don’t care or don’t want to make the effort needed to change;
• People with an addiction often seek help after they “hit bottom.” Your spouse hasn’t reached a point where things are so bad the problem is undeniable, and they must choose between using alcohol and living their life;
• Given the physical changes chronic alcohol use makes to the brain, they need professional help to stop, but they’re unwilling to get it;
• Past interventions with family and friends haven’t resulted in lasting changes; and
• They may have tried to get sober in the past yet have given up and won’t try again.

As much as you may love and care about your spouse, there’s only so much you can do and take. These are decisions and actions that only you can take.

3. Your Spouse is Dangerous and Unpredictable

Alcohol can make people erratic and impulsive. It clouds their judgment and they may act and say things that expose themselves to danger.  Sometimes they don’t realize and sometimes they just don’t care.  They may:

• Drive while impaired;
• Get into physical altercations with others;
• Threaten others or themselves with harm;
• Spend a lot of money frivolously;
• Become belligerent and act out for no legitimate reason;
• Become physically or emotionally abusive towards you, your kids, extended family members, friends, or even strangers; and
• Become depressed, withdrawn, sad, and talk about self-harm or suicide.

Living with an unpredictable and potentially violent spouse can make you anxious, depressed, and hypervigilant, causing your physical and mental health to suffer.

4. Your Spouse is Physically, Sexually, or Emotionally Abusive

Alcohol can lubricate the gears of abuse inside your spouse’s damaged personality. When sober, they may not lash out or even express regret over past aggression.  They may promise not to do it again. But moments of clarity can be washed away when the drinking pattern starts anew.

Your spouse’s impulse control and judgment may disappear, while anger, jealousy, and vindictiveness go into overdrive. They have easy access to you or your children, so you or the kids are the focus of their attacks. They may attack you with their body or use a weapon. Your spouse doesn’t see you as another human being. They must control you and may “punish” you if you’re not living up to their “rules.”

If your spouse is domestically violent, get to a place of physical safety and call the local police as soon as possible.  Filing for a temporary restraining order and then a final order can be very important in this situation, with or without a divorce, to avoid potentially severe or fatal injuries to you or your children. We have helped many spouses in these situations. Contact us so we can help you escape what you’re enduring and be safe.  There are superb community agencies dealing with mental health and domestic violence.  We will help you access such groups.

5. You’re Still Married Because You’re in Fear

Fear prevents you from improving your lifestyle, getting divorced, and moving past a relationship that’s harming you and your kids. You may fear many things, including:

• The divorce process;
• Others will find out about your personal and relationship problems;
• Some will unfairly blame you for the situation;
• Physical retaliation by your spouse;
• Your spouse’s decline will accelerate, and they may kill themselves;
• You’ll be financially unable to start over; and
• You believe, without evidence, that ending your marriage will be more harmful to your kids than continuing it.

Ninety-eight percent of NJ marriages end with agreements between the parties and uncontested divorces.  So, if you’re fearing a trial, it probably won’t happen. Others may find out about your situation, but you’re not to blame for it, and you should feel no shame in putting your life (and the lives of your kids) on the right track.

You may be entitled to spousal and child support. Your finances may be tighter than your current situation, but you should find freeing yourself from a substance-abusing spouse to be worth the cost. Your children will be better off with a single, fully functional parent than living with the chaos and harm that occurs in a household with a parent who cannot live without alcohol.

We can take steps to discourage your spouse from getting near or contacting you. Violating a protection from abuse order can result in an arrest and possibly jail time for your spouse. Your spouse is responsible for their own health and safety. You’ve tried to help, but you can only do so much. A divorce may be the “bottom” your spouse needs to turn their lives around.

If It’s Time for a Divorce, We Can Help

For those married to alcoholics, divorce can be the first step towards your health and happiness. During the initial consult, we will listen to your facts, explain the law, and suggest right and reasonable approaches for your children and you. We are compassionate counsel and tough advocates and we are ready to help you! Call us at 609-683-7400 or contact us online to schedule a near-term initial consultation at a reduced rate. Call today. You will be glad you did.

What Will Happen if Anonymous Sperm Donation Isn’t So Anonymous?

Should children whose biological fathers were sperm donors be legally entitled to know their identities? That’s an issue being confronted in some state legislatures. It brings up many potential relationship medical, and legal issues.

Genetics Matter to a Point

It’s well established that the genetic code handed down from your ancestors largely controls your physical characteristics and can make you more or less prone to medical conditions. Genetic causes a small percentage of cancers, according to the American Cancer Society, but knowing if you have a family history of cancer may make you more vigilant in cancer screenings. If one is found at an early stage, treatment may have a much greater chance of success.

However, how much genetics controls our personalities and academic potential is less certain and more controversial. It could lead to genetic discrimination. If your DNA makes it less likely you’ll do well in school, why waste valuable educational resources on you?

Secrets No More

Secrecy for sperm donors was commonplace for many years, but DNA testing has ended any guarantee of donor anonymity. Major sperm banks require donors to agree to disclose their medical histories and reveal their identities when a child reaches 18.

This isn’t enough for some pushing state legislation to make this a legal mandate, ending anonymity for sperm donors. Colorado, in 2022, passed a law requiring sperm banks to disclose donor identities to children when they are 18 years old, according to the New York Times.

Impact on Same-Sex Couples

Some in the L.G.B.T.Q. community, who make up a large percentage of sperm donation users, fear the end of this secrecy may be an unanticipated threat. It may result in donors obtaining parental rights and L.G.B.T.Q. families being seen as less legitimate. Donors and parents agreeing to release information is one thing, the government requiring it is something else.

Only seven states have statutory language in fully protecting families formed by nongenetic bonds because they passed the current Uniform Parentage Act. New Jersey is not one of them. The state’s law is based on a prior version passed by 13 other states.

Those fears were peaked by a 2023 Oklahoma court decision involving a lesbian couple who divorced after having a donor-conceived baby. The judge ruled the nonbiological mother lacked parental rights since she failed to adopt the child, but the sperm donor had parental rights with the biological mother.

If a same-sex partnership dissolves or a marriage ends in New Jersey, parental rights will come up if a child is part of the family. If a heterosexual couple divorces, there will be a child custody order if the parents can’t agree on who will have what custody rights. If a same-sex couple ends their relationship, their rights can be less certain without marriage or formal second-parent adoption.

Culture Wars and Sperm Donation

Children of same-sex couples may confront people telling them it’s wrong for them not to know who a biological parent is, and that it’s wrong for them to be in this situation. This viewpoint was used to argue against the legality of same-sex marriage despite research showing children of same-sex couples are no worse off than those growing up in traditional families.

Some groups lobbying to end donor anonymity think teens younger than 18 (perhaps 14) should be informed of their sperm donor’s identity. This opens up potential conflicts between parents and their teenage children over what it means to be part of a family.

Birth certificates are another legal battleground. If enacted, a bill introduced in the New York Senate would result in sealed birth certificates with a sperm donor’s identity. Birth certificates currently record legal parentage, not necessarily genetic parentage.

Contact Our Family Lawyers

If you would like to speak to a member of our firm about alimony or another family law matter, please get in touch with our Princeton office to arrange a consultation. We accept credit cards and offer general appointments from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, plus evening appointments during the week by pre-arrangement only. Please write us online or call us at 609-683-7400. Call today.  You will be glad you did!

Are You an Employee or Not? New Federal Rule on Employee Classification Goes into Effect March 11

New standards by the federal Department of Labor (DOL) will determine whether you’re an employee or an independent contractor under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This could decide whether or not you should be paid at least the minimum wage and overtime. New Jersey has its own employee-friendly rule for this issue.

This new final rule rescinds the DOL’s previous final rule (developed under the Trump administration) on this topic, proving these rules aren’t that final. They may come and go with Presidential administrations who write these rules to be more or less pro-employee, depending on their priorities.

Although the new rule (developed under the Biden administration, called the economic realities test) is expected to result in more workers being considered employees, it doesn’t go as far in that direction as the ABC test, which New Jersey and California use when applying their laws.

An employer found to have misclassified employees as independent contractors under the FLSA may be ordered to pay unpaid wages, overtime, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs.

How Does the Economic Realities Test Work?

The latest final rule applies to those protected by the FLSA. The following factors will be used when the DOL decides if someone is an employee or independent contractor. None of the factors are more important than others.

1. Opportunity for profit or loss depending on managerial skill

If the person has no chance for profit or loss from their work, they’re probably an employee. Some decisions show the person’s an independent contractor running their own business. Relevant facts include whether the worker:

• Accepts or declines jobs
• Chooses the order and time when jobs are performed
• Engages in marketing, advertising, or other efforts to expand their business or secure more work
• Makes decisions to hire others, buy materials and equipment, and rent space

An independent contractor should be acting as a business being paid to help another business. If that’s not the case, the worker’s an employee.

2. Investments by the worker and the potential employer

This factor covers:

• Does the employer spend money to support an employee, or is the worker spending money to perform a project, run, and expand their business? If the employer pays the money, the person is probably an employee
• Is the employer or worker buying tools and equipment? If the worker spends the money, they’re probably an independent contractor
• Does the worker spend money to expand what they can do, reduce costs, or find more customers? If so, they’re probably an independent contractor

The more money the worker spends to support their business, the more they appear to be an independent contractor.

3. Degree of permanence of the work relationship

It’s more likely the person’s an employee if there’s no expected end to the relationship, it’s continuous, or it’s the only work the person does. An independent contractor status is more likely if the work has a given duration, the person works for others as well, and the work is project-based or sporadic.

4. Nature and degree of control

The more actual and potential control the organization has, the more likely the worker’s an employee. Facts to consider include whether the potential employer:

• Sets the worker’s schedule
• Supervises the work’s performance
• Explicitly limits the worker’s ability to work for others
• Uses technology to supervise the work’s performance

If the person is given tasks to perform or items to make along with details the potential employer expects, but it’s up to the worker to determine how that’s done, they’re more likely an independent contractor.

5. The extent to which the work performed is an integral part of the potential employer’s business

This factor depends on whether the function the person performs is an integral part of the business. They’re more likely an employee when their work is central, critical, or necessary to the potential employer’s principal business.

6. Skill and initiative

The person is more likely an employee if the organization trains them to improve their skills. The fact the person has specialized skills doesn’t mean they’re an independent contractor. The issue is how those skills are used. Are they used in connection to a business-like initiative that shows they’re an independent contractor?

The DOL claims the newer final rule is more consistent with the FLSA as past court decisions interpret it and will reduce the chances of misclassification.

What is New Jersey’s Rule?

While there are limits on who’s covered by the FLSA, New Jersey wage and hour law covers all employees in the state. The ABC test determines if someone is an employee protected by the law. It presumes the person is an employee unless all of the following apply:

1. The person has and will be free from control or direction of the work’s performance, both under a contract and in fact
2. The person’s service is outside the usual course of the business, or the service is performed outside the enterprises’ place(s) of business
3. The worker is usually engaged in an independently established trade, profession, occupation, or business

If you fall under the FLSA and New Jersey law, you should seek whichever provides greater protection and benefits, given your situation.

Has Your Employer Misclassified Your Job or your Payroll Status?

If you have questions about your employment status or believe you have grounds for a legal claim, we will listen to you, explain the law, and suggest right and reasonable approaches for you.

Kingston Law Group are compassionate counsel and tough advocates.  We are ready to help. Call us at 609-683-7400, or contact us online, to schedule a near-term initial consultation at a reduced fee. Call today. You will be glad you did.