New Legislation (AJR-32) Clears the Assembly Judiciary Committee to Form a Commission to Study #Alimony Reform.

On the outside this would seem like a victory for the Alimony Reform movement, however it rings hollow. Ladies and gentlemen the citizens of New Jersey have once again been taken advantage of by the NJ Legislature and the Madame was once again the NJ Bar Association. Assemblymen Troy Singleton and Sean Kean co-sponsored Bill AJR-32. On February 10, 2014 Bill AJR 32 was passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee. This bill purports to form a Commission to review and recommend alimony reform in NJ. The language in the bill indicates that the Commission will be stacked with Attorneys who have a clear and evident conflict of interest in matrimonial matters as Attorneys stand to gain financially from all matters matrimonial. This bill, in effect, will let the foxes watch over the hen house while it is being renovated. Any Family Law Attorney should recuse themselves to appointment to this commission because of a clear conflict of interest.

On December 16, 2013 the Senate Judiciary Committee, under the reins of Chairmen Senator Scutari and from behind closed doors with other “Officers of the Court”, decided to shelve Bills S-2750/A-3909 which would have created an Equitable, Fair and Complete Solution to Alimony Reform. Senator Scutari pulled voting on at bill at the last minute, 3:00 PM and shelved the bill. Who got to whom we may never know, but one thing rings clear it appears that the Legislature is being run by the NJ Bar Association and not the people who were elected by the citizens of New Jersey. These two bills mirrored the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers guidelines issued in 2007.

The State of Massachusetts recently passed new Alimony legislation which was the result of a Commission which studied the current alimony laws and recommended changes which needed to be made to reflect 21st century family norms. The state of Massachusetts has the same demographics as the state of New Jersey.

It is a complete waste of the tax payer’s money to have another Committee study alimony laws, it has already been done. This is nothing more than the NJ Bar Association trying to control the democratic process. The NJ Bar Association is a private organization of Lawyers with the sole purpose of keeping the status quo so that their financial feeding at the matrimonial trough can continue.