The following article written by a New Jersey Lawyer about New Jersey law and Beneficiary forms in your Last Will and Testament is featured on New-Jersey-Lawyers.com

Beneficiary Forms

By Michael B. Mangini, Attorney at Law

 Forgetting Your Beneficiary Forms May

The failure to correctly complete the forms that designate the beneficiaries of your life insurance policies and retirement plan accounts may undermine your entire estate plan. Here are a few tips on doing it right.

Never name your estate as the beneficiary or permit your estate to become the beneficiary by default. Permitting your estate to be the beneficiary deprives the ultimate beneficiary of significant income-tax benefits and strips the assets of their protection against the claims of creditors.

Never name a friend or family member as beneficiary and make her promise to use the money for your child. Three big problems immediately come to mind. First, the friend has no legal obligation to use the money for your child. Second, if your friend gets a judgment against her, her creditors may take the money. Third, if your friend dies or gets divorced, her husband, not your child, may get the money.

Never name a minor child as beneficiary. Most couples name their minor child as contingent beneficiary; this is not a good idea. First, someone will have to ask the court to appoint and qualify him as guardian of the minor’s property. Second, the child will get full control over the money on his eighteenth birthday.

Never name an irresponsible adult as beneficiary. The beneficiary will waste the funds in no time. Never name a disabled adult as beneficiary; receiving the money may result in a loss of public benefits such as SSI and Medicaid.

How do you manage these issues? If all beneficiaries are responsible adults under no disability you may name them as the designated beneficiaries, but naming an asset-protection trust as beneficiary is a better idea.

If a beneficiary is under age 18, disabled or irresponsible consider creating a trust in your Last Will and Testament. You may name the trustee who is legally responsible for managing and spending the funds in the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The trust funds will be protected from the claims of the trustee’s and beneficiaries’ creditors. You may control the purposes for which and the age or ages at which the funds are distributed to your beneficiary. A well-drafted trust will preserve the beneficiary’s eligibility for public assistance. Designating a trust created in your Last Will as beneficiary is not the same as naming your estate as beneficiary; therefore the asset-protection and income-tax benefits are preserved.

If you are married with children, ordinarily you should name your spouse as primary beneficiary and your testamentary trust as contingent beneficiary.

To Read other legal articles about wills, estates, trust or estate planning written by New Jersey Attorneys or other legal articles by New Jersey Lawyers visit www.New-Jersey-Lawyers.com .  If you need a New Jersey Lawyer we suggest you visit New-Jersey-Lawyers.com , Njlawfirms.net or also try Njlawyers-NewJerseyLawyers.com

The following article about New Jersey Divorce is featured on New-Jersey-Lawyers.com The below article has 31 topics and is a continuation of the the last article. We are posting topics 19-31today. You can read the entire article on New Jersey Lawyers Child Custody FAQ’s

By Theodore Sliwinski, Esq.

25. Does a child still have to have visitation his parent, if he does not want to see them?
When a child does not want to see the other parent, there are a few factors to consider in pursuing visitation. If the child is 16, then the child is old enough to make an intelligent decision as to whether he/she wants to visit with their parent. However, a custodial parent has a legal duty to encourage visitation with their former spouse. In short, a custodial parent should never bad-mouth their former spouse to their children, and try to poison their relationship. If the children are young, then the courts are inclined to force the child to have visitation with their parent, even if they do not want to. It must always be remembered, that a parent has a constitutional right to have visitation with his/her child. It is very unlikely that a court will terminate visitation entirely. Most courts believe that it is in the child’s best interest to have two parents jointly raise him or her.

26. Do grandparents have visitation rights?
In many divorces, the parties hate each other so much that they try to get back at each other by refusing to permit the grandparents to visit with the children. For many of our senior citizens, seeing their grandchildren is the most cherished part of their life. In my opinion, in most cases the courts will grant grandparents visitation rights even if the custodial parent objects. Grandparent visitation is a very rapidly expanding field of law. The courts are very reluctant to deny a grandparent the right to visit with their beloved grandchildren. In general, grandparents must apply for visitation with grandchildren. The grandparent must file motion of complaint for visitation with the court. The court will then refer the case to custody mediation. At the mediation, a court-appointed mediator will try to get the parties to agree on a visitation schedule. If the mediation session is not successful, then the case will be referred to a judge. The court will then formulate a reasonable visitation schedule. In only the most extreme cases will grandparent visitation be denied. In most cases, it is in the best interests of the children to have visitation with all of their grandparents. Once a visitation schedule has been established, it must be modified like any other visitation schedule.

27. Does a stepparent have a statutory right to have visitation with their stepchildren?
Currently, there is no statutory right for a stepparent to have visitation with their stepchildren. However, each application for a stepparent to have visitation with their stepchildren is decided on a case be case basis. If a stepparent has formulated a relationship with the stepchild, and it the application is made in good faith, then in most cases the application for visitation will be granted. The stepparent has the burden to demonstrate to the court that there is a relationship between him/her and the child which includes reliance for financial support or love and comfort.

28. Can a parent’s visitation rights be terminated completely?
In New Jersey a parent has a constitutional right to have visitation with their children. Therefore, only in the most rarest of circumstances will visitation be terminated completely. The only possible cases where visitation will be terminated is if the parent is a habitual drug offender, or a sex offender. The court may terminate visitation because they do not want the children to be corrupted or harmed.

29. Can a parent’s new spouse adopt her child?
In many cases, a woman remarries after she gets divorced. Thereafter, she may lose contact with her prior husband, and the father of her children. Unfortunately, in many cases the non-custodial parent does not pay any child support, and he fails to develop any type of relationship with his children. A parent’s new spouse may only adopt the stepchildren if the former father’s rights have terminated. Termination of a spouse’s parental rights may be done by consent of the former father or by a court order.

30. What happens if a parent kidnaps a child by taking him out of state?
In many cases, a distressed parent may “kidnap” a child by taking him/her out of New Jersey. If this happens, then New Jersey courts have jurisdiction. A New Jersey court has parens patriae jurisdiction over the custody and maintenance of the children who have resided in New Jersey for five years or more. If the children have lived most of their lives in New Jersey, then a New Jersey court would exercise jurisdiction is such a case. The public policy behind such a rule precludes the removal of children from one state to another without any prior judicial recourse.

31. How can a parent’s rights be terminated?
The termination of parental rights makes the parent and child relationship obsolete. It severs all of the legal ties between the parent and the child. To terminate a person’s parental rights, a petition to the court must be filed based upon the best interests of the child. The petitioner must prove that; (1) the child’s health and development have been or will continue to be endangered by the parents; (2) that the parent is unable or unwilling to eliminate the harm; (3) that there have been attempts made to correct the circumstances; and (4) that termination will not do mare harm than good. These four criteria must by proven by clear and convincing evidence. In most cases, applications to terminate parental rights must be made by DYFS.  

To Read the balance of this article or find a New Jersey Divorce Lawyer visit www.New-Jersey-Lawyers.com or go to NJLawFirms.net for more listings of NJ Divorce lawyers.

The following article about New Jersey Divorce is featured on New-Jersey-Lawyers.com The below article has 31 topics and is a continuation of the the last article. We are posting topics 19-25 today We will publish the balance of topics in proceeding days. Or you can read the entire article on New Jersey Lawyers Child Custody FAQ’s

By Theodore Sliwinski, Esq.

19. What type of visitation rights does a parent have in New Jersey?
In the State of New Jersey a parent has a constitutional right to see his/her children. Before any parent can be denied of visitation rights, it must be shown that having the child in the parent’s presence would cause physical or emotional harm to the child. Moreover, it must be proven that there are no other alternatives than completely terminating visitation.

20. What type of visitation schedules are available in New Jersey?
There is an endless amount of different types of visitation schedules. Each couple can arrange a visitation schedule that can suit their own lives and their work schedules. The standard visitation plan is for the husband to have visitation every other weekend, and on Wednesday evenings. The visitation on the weekend normally starts on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and ends on Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. The visitation on Wednesdays usually starts and 6:00 p.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m. A new trend in family law is to have shared residential custody. This means that the children live with both parents. In my opinion this is really a scam that is used by many ex-husbands. This type of shared custody is primary a ploy by ex-husbands to reduce their child support obligations. The more overnights that the husband has will translate into a lower child support award. I always recommend to all of my clients to reject a shared parenting plan. Furthermore, I always advise my clients to permit the non-custodial parent to see their children as much as possible. However, I don’t permit my clients to agree to a shared parenting plan because in most cases it is just a ploy by husbands to pay lower child support.

21. What is supervised visitation?
In some cases it may be appropriate for a parent to have supervised visitation with the children. In some cases, the parent may have a drug or alcohol problem, and if they have visitation with the children alone, then they could corrupt them. Moreover, in some cases, the non-custodial parent may have a conviction for a sex-related charge. In these types of situations, the courts will often order that all visitation must be supervised. Supervised visitation can take place at the locate county court house. The Sheriff Department will supervise visitation normally on the weekends. The courts only order court supervised visitation in the most extreme cases. There are only so many sheriff offices, and there are a limited amount of cases that they can supervise. Therefore, in the vast majority of the cases, the court will order that a parent or a relative of the non-custodial parent be appointed as the supervisor. Basically, this means that the non-custodial parent can’t visit their children unless that supervisor is present.

22. My ex-spouse is now living with another person, can I request that visitation be modified so that the new companion cannot spend the night where the children are located?
When a parent starts a new romantic relationship, the former embittered spouse often tries to have the visitation modified so that the new companion cannot spend the night with the children. The former spouse will argue that the children are too young to understand the new situation, and that it will cause emotional harm to them. The court will then analyze the emotional impact to the children if they visit their parent with his new girlfriend or wife. The court will also consider the stability of the new relationship, the ages of the children, and the relationship of the children with the new companion in making this determination.

23. What can a person do if they continually fight with their former spouse during the pick up and drop off of the children?
In many cases, the parties actually have physical fights when they drop off and pick up the children during the visitation. This type of scenario is especially enhanced if the wife moves in with another boyfriend, or if the husband shacks up with a new girlfriend. Given the high cost of living in New Jersey, this type of situation occurs all of the time. If the parties can’t control their emotions, then the court will order that the pick up and the drop off of the children must occur at the local police station. However, in many cases the people are still berserk, and they still engage in violence even though they are in the police station. In my opinion, people are generally nuts. Having the children picked up and dropped off at a police station really is in many cases the only avenue available to prevent the parties from killing each other. Nonetheless, a nasty visitation dispute is a great way to ruin a kid’s childhood.

24. What can be done if a party fails to comply with the visitation schedule?
A common problem with visitation is that one party fails to comply with the visitation schedule. Visitation schedules are derived from court orders, or judgments of divorce. Therefore, if a person consistently fails to comply with a visitation schedule then they can create a real mess for themselves. A court can sanction a parent with fines if they consistently fail to comply with a visitation schedule. In some cases, an embittered former wife becomes so enraged that she does everything within her power to deny the husband visitation rights. This type of scenario often occurs when the ex-husband leaves his former wife for another woman. The world is a nasty place, and this scenario happens quite frequently. The embittered spouse often convinces the kids that dad is a reincarnation of “Satan.” It must be emphasized that a former husband has the right to visit with his children, regardless of the circumstances that led to the dissolution of the marriage. In some extreme circumstances, the court will even transfer custody if a parent is consistently denied visitation rights. This measure is only used as a measure of last resort

To Read the balance of this article or find a New Jersey Divorce Lawyer visit www.New-Jersey-Lawyers.com or go to NJLawFirms.net for more listings of NJ Divorce lawyers