Brick, NJ Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

Thank you for your question. It sounds like you received a summons and complaint with an acknowledgment of service. This needs to be signed so the court knows that you are aware that this action is moving forward. Without reviewing the documents that you are referring to, it is difficult to answer your question completely. I would suggest that you reach out to a family attorney to schedule a consultation so all of your questions can be answered.

You need to send a written list of questions (called interrogatories) and a written list of documents that you want (called a Notice to Produce).  These two sets of requests have to be served on the other party by either sending an acknowledgement that they sign and return or by sending them certified mail with return receipt requested. 

In divorce settings ( outside of the courthouse) there are a million alternate ways to resolve support, asset division, and parenting time issues in divorce settings, including settings where one spouse "defers on his equity interest" in the asset for a period of time because of the children. The difficulty is working out the terms to ensure its success. To draft language to address this type of setting should take a family law attorney about 4 - 5 pages since we need to determine if the mortgage payment is going to be paid as part of the alimony and/or child support obligation, whether the mortgage payment is going to be shared equally or in a different ratio; what happens if one party defaults in his / her payments; who pays for routine maintenance and routine repairs or whether they get shared; who pays for extraordinary type repairs or are they shared; what happens if your spouse starts living with a guy in the house, does that trigger a sale or buy out; who gets credit for the mortgage pay down or is that shared; what is the triggering event for the sale or buy out; how do you determine the market value for its sale or buy out; what is the timeframe for a sale or buy out once the triggering event occurs; if there is going to be a buyout, how is the mortigage handled and what is the timeframe for the refience of same to occur; if there are any tax benefits for the mortigage interest and / or the real estate taxes, are they shared equally or in a different ratio; and how do you and she recalucualte each parties share of the expenses in the event of a material change in circumstnace setting. These are simply a few of the questions that a family law attorney would be addressing in drafting a settlement agreement. If these terms are not addressed and not clarified, then you have created a black hole setting or a nightmare for a court if a dispute takes place in the future over any or all of these issues. The fact that you and your spouse are getting along now has nothing to do with the future or how each of you will feel about these issues later. And, if these issues are not clarified now, how can a judge figure out what you and your spouse intended to do with each of these issues.