New Jersey Law Blog

A family whose home was wrongfully assaulted by a Mineapolis SWAT team in 2011 has secured a $225,000 settlement in its suit against the city.

Police forcefully entered their home one morning while the family was preparing for its day and eating breakfast. They had a warrant to search for a gun belonging to the homeowner’s brother, but the search had been called off a few days prior due to the homeowner’s cooperation with the investigation.

Nevertheless, the SWAT team stormed into the family’s home, lethally shooting its two dogs, shouting profanities and racial slurs, and even stealing cash from a purse. They also allegedly beat the homeowner, broke furniture, and tore down curtains. All of this occurred in front of the homeowners’ two daughters, ages 1 and 3.

The city’s new police chief said that while she was not abreast of all the case’s details, she will not tolerate such egregious behavior from her officers.

Raising a family is costly. There are a lot of expenses that raising children and running a household present that people may not think of or be prepared for at first.

Data from a new Gallup poll show that the average family believes the annual cost of living for a family of four is more than $55,000.

In the United States, the federal line for poverty for such a family is set to around $24,000. Even Americans making fewer than $30,000 per year reported a belief that it takes $43,000 combined between spouses to have a livable family income.

Families reported higher necessary incomes depending on their communities and lifestyles. People in more affluent communities reported needing much more money to “get by” than those with less money. Nevertheless, the average family requires a great sum of money to be successful.

When children are left in the care of a school or daycare center, it is reasonable for parents to assume that the caretakers working there will perform their duties and keep the children safe from harm. Children, especially toddlers, have a tendency to injure themselves. It is the responsibility of the employees at care centers to do everything in their power to prevent such injuries.

Sadly, it is not uncommon for childcare employees to fail to supervise children just long enough for them to injure themselves. Even a momentary lapse in supervision can be enough for a child to hurt itself or others, so caretakers need to be ever-vigilant.

Liability for caretaker negligence extends beyond simply supervising the children. Caretakers should, under most circumstances, provide children with an opportunity to eat something during the day. They should also do everything in their power to keep the premises safe for children, as children are not likely to recognize dangerous situations or objects when they arise.

When a caretaker neglects your and he or she becomes injured, it is a betrayal of your trust and the agreement between you. If your child has been hurt as a result of a caretaker’s lack of responsibility, you may be able to hold him or her legally accountable for your child’s injuries.

Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter have become increasingly popular over the last five years. In fact, an estimated 1.01 billion people use Facebook each month in August 2012, a 233 percent increase from the same month three years earlier in 2009. And while these websites can be extremely beneficial for gathering news, information, and even staying in touch with friends, it can potentially be detrimental to your divorce case.

From making your divorce more public to friends and family to presenting evidence against you and even hurting you emotionally after the divorce is finalized, due to child support and other issues, social media websites have changed divorce forever. In fact, the Huffington Post reported that a study by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) suggested over 80 percent of all divorce attorneys said evidence from Facebook and Twitter has increased over the past six years.

There are a number of ways social networking websites can affect your divorce case. Location-based status updates can show where he or she is at a specific time. Also, photo uploads of a party or get-together where alcohol is present can seriously impact a divorce settlement, especially when children are involved. If you are going through a divorce, you may want to keep the following in mind:

• Be careful with how much your social media circle crosses over into your ex’s circle.
• Do not change your relationship status to “single” if you are not yet divorced and have simply started the divorce process. Even something as small as this can provide evidence that you may have been unfaithful or planned to be before the divorce process began.
• Think twice before posting anything to Facebook, Twitter, or any other site. This is especially the case for photos.
• Do not post updates with your location

You should also be careful with social media sites after divorce, especially if you and your former spouse remain friends or in contact because of children. Divorce can be a very emotional time and photos or status updates could bring back old memories or increase the risk of an argument with your ex.

International adoption has recently come up in the news as a result of Russia’s controversial decision to ban adoptions of Russian children by U.S. families. This decision, which came about after several horrific cases of Russian children who had been abused by their adoptive families, has prompted international outcry among adoption advocates, who warn that this step will simply leave more children abandoned in Russian orphanages, which are considered some of the poorest in the world. As much as this is an unfortunate development, it has also helped to shine a spotlight on the benefits of adopting children.

An equally important, though far less commented upon, development in the realm of adoption has been the extension of a tax credit for parents who adopt a child. This is especially important for international adoptions, which can often have significant costs up-front that may deter some prospective parents. In some cases, the savings possible through this credit can be upwards of $10,000, depending on the circumstances in which the adoption occurs.

As both of these developments show, adoption can be a difficult but ultimately deeply rewarding process. With the help of an experienced family law attorney, though, much of the hardest parts of adoption can be resolved with little or no difficulty.

When a person needs more physical or medical attention than his or her loved ones are able to give, sometimes a nursing home can be a viable option for a family. Nursing homes are meant to house individuals who need regular attention and care, and are responsible for the safety and well-being of each resident. Typically, families can be comforted by the thought that their loved one is well taken care of in a nursing home. Unfortunately, sometimes individuals who reside in nursing homes are subject to abusive nursing home staff members. One form of nursing home abuse that is common is emotional abuse.

Emotional abuse can be even more dangerous and common because sometimes it is difficult to notice. Unlike physical abuse, whose signs are more visible on a person, emotional abuse can happen and leave no discernible (or at least physical) mark on an individual. However, the damage is often there, and might be seen through other indicators.

Warning Signs

If you suspect that someone you love has been the sufferer of emotional abuse in a nursing home, there are some signs that you can look for. These signs include:

* Decreased interest in social activities
* Decreased desire to see loved ones or family
* Increased anger / moodiness
* Self-enforced isolation
* Mood swings

All of these behaviors could indicate that a nursing home resident is suffering from emotional abuse, like humiliation, isolation, or verbal attacks. Noticing these signs early can be one way to put an end to abusive behaviors more quickly.

Emotional abuse in nursing homes should never be tolerated. If you have noticed a loved one exhibiting signs of emotional abuse while in a nursing home, you could qualify for financial compensation in a nursing home abuse case. Contact an experienced NJ lawyer today to learn about your options.

The info in this graphic was compiled by the The Garden State Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys

When a couple gets married, they often don’t want to even consider the possibility that their relationship will ever end. However, after many years together, the strain of life’s everyday burdens, as well as the simple personal changes that everyone undergoes over time, may eventually lead a couple to decide that they would be better off separating. Unfortunately, the separation process, particularly in a divorce, can often cause serious financial issues to emerge.

One way to avoid this issue is by signing a prenuptial agreement. These agreements define the property rights of each individual before the marriage, and can help to limit the acrimony that may occur during divorce proceedings. Many couples tend to think that prenuptial agreements are unromantic and begin a marriage on a needlessly combative note, but prenuptial agreements can actually have a number of benefits, both during a marriage and in the case that it should end. Some of these include:

• Ÿ  Reducing uncertainty and anxiety: couples who share all marital property may experience anxiety and frustration, feeling that they are bound to their relationship out of property concerns. By removing this barrier, prenuptial agreements can help to reduce tension and friction within relationships.
• Ÿ  Protecting adult children: prenuptial agreements are particularly well-suited to marriages which happen later in life, especially if one spouse has adult children for which they wish to ensure an adequate inheritance.
• Ÿ  Protecting business ownership: if one spouse has a significant ownership stake in a business, a premarital agreement can help to ensure that the business remains in their hands.

Regardless of the strength of a relationship, many family law attorneys recommend prenuptial agreements to all couples with significant assets to ensure that any possible divorce proceedings are as untroubled as possible.

For married couples who decide to pursue a divorce, one of the most important considerations to take into account is how property will be divided between both spouses. Because most couples have accumulated a considerable number of possessions during their time together, it can sometimes be difficult to determine who exactly should get what. However, effectively dividing this property is critical to ensuring a successful divorce settlement.

In some cases, a couple considering divorce can simply divide their assets between each other through mutual agreement. However, if bitterness should develop later on in the process, these agreements aren’t legally enforceable and may leave one spouse vulnerable to exploitation.

Mediated divorces are another, more legally secure way for a divorcing couple to achieve division of marital property on their own terms. In mediated divorce, both parties will work with a third-party mediator to reach an agreement about property division which is satisfactory to each spouse. These agreements do typically have the force of law behind them, and therefore both spouses can feel more secure in their decision.

Many divorce, unfortunately, involve considerable acrimony between the two parties, and in these cases, reaching a mutual agreement about property division is usually impossible. Therefore, it is often necessary to take the issue to a court, where it will be decided regardless of what either side wants. In most states, marital property is divided as equitably as possible, although this does not by any means imply that it will be divided equally. Rather, the positions of both sides will be taken into account to determine who should receive what. Because of the considerable impact that this element of a divorce proceeding can have on an individual’s life, it is important to have the qualified assistance of a knowledgeable divorce lawyer in this type of situation.

Every relationship has its share of difficult moments. However, for some, arguments and fights with their significant other can turn violent. Worse, some relationships can devolve into a persistent cycle of abuse, typically with one partner directing the majority of their abuse against the other. This can not only be damaging to the ongoing physical and mental health of the abuse victim, but may very well threaten their life: many abusive relationships eventually result in intimate partner homicide, often after years of abuse.

Because of the significant danger which those who have been victims of domestic violence (PDF) may find themselves in, states have formulated laws to help ensure that there are legal safeguards in place to help prevent this type of tragedy from occurring.

Ex parte orders, sometimes known as temporary restraining orders, can be obtained as an immediate safeguard against harm. Though the assistance of a knowledgeable domestic violence lawyer may be necessary, filing for and obtaining an ex parte order is typically fairly straightforward and easily accomplished if there is evidence of the individual being directly threatened by their spouse or significant other.

For more permanent protection, victims of domestic abuse can file for orders of protection, also known simply as restraining orders. Like an ex parte order, an order of protection may require the abuser to vacate the premises they share with their significant other and deny them the right to any form of contact with their victim. The most important difference from an ex parte order is that orders of protection are often permanent, and can be enforced across state lines.

Those who have been the victims of domestic abuse need to be aware that they can get the protection they need, and should do so as soon as possible. Speaking with a qualified domestic violence attorneyor law enforcement official is essential to preventing the worst case possible.