If you are considering getting a divorce in New Jersey, it is important that you know all of the options you now have for getting it done. Until relatively recently, almost New Jersey divorces involved the litigation process: filing a Divorce Complaint; having it served on your spouse; waiting for a response, painstakingly completing a multi-page document called a Case Information Statement which requires you to provide a detailed itemization of all income, expenses, assets and liabilities; and going through formal procedures called discovery in which you must answer written questions, produce documents and sometimes provide oral testimony--and that's just the beginning.

1. Considering A Divorce In New
Jersey? Know All of Your Options.
By: David Salvaggio

2. If you are considering getting a divorce in New Jersey, it is important that
you know all of the options you now have for getting it done.
Until relatively recently, almost New Jersey divorces involved the litigation
process: filing a Divorce Coaint; having it served on your spouse; waiting for
a response, painstakingly completing a multi-page document called a Case
Information Statement which requires you to provide a detailed itemization
of all income, expenses, assets and liabilities; and going through formal
procedures called discovery in which you must answer written questions,
produce documents and sometimes provide oral testimony--and that's just
the beginning.
If the parties cannot reach a settlement, there are many more required
procedures before a litigated case can be reached by a Superior Court
Judge, who will decide all of the issues after a full-blown trial which
sometimes extends over several weeks if not months. The litigation process
is long, very expensive and, more often than not, yields results which are
dissatisfactory to both parties.

3. Fortunately, there are now several alternatives in New Jersey to the litigation
process, including divorce mediation, collaborative divorce practice, cooperative
divorce practice and divorce arbitration. When used in the appropriate case,
these alternatives can save time, money and result in much greater satisfaction
for both parties.
In mediation, the divorcing spouses use a neutral third party to help them
resolve all issues between themselves. In both collaborative divorce practice and
cooperative divorce practice, each party is represented by a specially trained
lawyer who, along with the parties, is committed to trying to resolve all issues
outside of court. Divorce Arbitration does require that a third party (the
arbitrator) resolve disputes. However, unlike Superior Court Judges who are not
chosen by the parties and have many different cases to resolve at any given
time, divorce arbitrators are selected by the parties and have more time to focus
exclusively on the parties' case.

4. For more information about all of your options when you are considering a
divorce in New Jersey, and which of those options may be best for you, visit the
Salvaggio Law Group website, www.salvaggiolaw.net.
About the Author: David Salvaggio is the Senior Attorney for Salvaggio Law
Group LLC, which is based in Morristown, New Jersey, and devotes its legal
practice exclusively to New Jersey divorce and family law matters.