Protect Valuable Family Time  with the Help of a Lawyer 

Whether you live in New Jersey or live out of state and have a family court case about child custody, child support and so forth, we can help you whether you are close by or live in Florida, Virginia or any other state and have a New Jersey Family Court case. As Jersey City child custody lawyers, we represent parents from throughout the country because of the transient nature of Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey.

Couple sitting on couch arguing
In the wake of a separation, custody of your children can be one of the most difficult questions to answer. 

Tools Available to Parents 

When parents cannot agree on simple things in life, they usually cannot agree on how or who should be the primary parent in the child’s life and/or how much parenting time each parent should have. These issues are never easy to tackle as in most family law cases, there is no smoking gun to prove your case. You need to present your case accordingly in family court to:

  • Change custody
  • Obtain custody
  • Change parenting time
  • Start having parenting time
  • Have a New Jersey child support issue
  • Seek a change

While many cases are cut and dry in that one parent has been the custodial parent throughout the child’s life while in other cases, the one parent agrees who should raise the child (which home to live in). The other cases that do not fit this distinction are the focus of this article.

Your Legal Options 

In these disputes, the court offers mediation to try and resolve the issues at hand. This option is available early on in the case and can be extremely useful to individuals but again, cases where the anger toward each party is present and/or the truth is blurred, mediation will not get the job done. The statute in New Jersey that governs child custody determinations is N.J.S.A 9:2-4f.

How We Help You Build Your Case

When a change in custody is sought or a significant change in parenting time is sought, your attorney should seek to conduct discovery if certain issues are present in the case. For example, if one party has a history of drug use, careless behavior, addiction issues and so forth, it is important to find out if the party is still using. If not, have them prove how long the person has been “clean” through a hair follicle test. When is the last time they relapsed? When they relapsed what happened? Has the child ever seen the parent in this state? The list goes on and on.

When issues like this and other issues such as anger, inability to control a person’s behavior, risky behavior and so on appear, your attorney should seek that the person seeking more time be mentally evaluated by a neutral professional. Furthermore, this neutral person should write a best interests report that can be used in court where the expert will testify as to how they reached their conclusion. This report is not the final test for the Court but it is a major consideration for the Judge in determining what should be done next. The expert witness is offering a suggestion to the Court and is not dispositive but the Judge could give that testimony a lot of weight.

Additionally, you can ask that written discovery be provided or that depositions are conducted where you can question the party or potential witnesses. These tools, when done right, can be extremely effective in finding the truth and catching someone being untruthful during the court proceedings.

Very good lawyer.  Worked hard daily on my family case and took my calls.  I felt like Mr. Artusa treated my issue as if it was his own and his staff was great...   Miguel B.

Contact Our Team Today 

Family issues, especially custody can get very ugly and difficult. New Jersey Family law and child custody attorney Santo Artusa has the experience and care to represent people who take these cases very seriously. These matters are very hard to simply work on and forget. It is important to work with a lawyer who represents your interests as if it was his or her case and family. New Jersey Family Attorney Santo Artusa does. If you seek professional representation in child custody, divorce, child support, and other family law issues, contact the Artusa Law Firm today at (973) 337-9643 or request a consultation online. To view all of the legal services we offer, visit: Artusa Law Firm of New Jersey.

Santo V. Artusa, Jr.

Santo V. Artusa, Jr.

Since 2009, Mr. Artusa has dedicated his career to representing clients in and near Jersey City in family law and criminal cases. He is a skilled negotiator and litigator who has received a range of prestigious recognitions, including:

  • The National Trial Lawyers Top 100
  • Avvo 10.0 Superb Rating
  • Client Distinction Award 2015

For more information about our legal services, contact our office online or call (973) 337-9643 today.

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Jersey City Office

26 Journal Square Plaza
Ste 603
Jersey City, NJ 07306

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Jersey City Office

121 Newark Avenue
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Jersey City, NJ 07306

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