The Murray Law Firm

07/19/2024

Derivative citizenship (i.e. inheriting citizenship from parents) just got easier.

This new policy makes it easier for aliens (i.e. foreigners or foreign nationals) to acquire U.S. citizenship from their parents.On July 18, 2024, USCIS circulated the following announcement:USCIS is updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding provisions for children’s acquisition of ci...

02/15/2023

Great news! Soon, H and L visa holders will be able to renew their visas without having to return to their home countries. Stateside visa renewals have not been available since 2004 due to 9/11 regulations.

Workplace immigration attorneys and foreign tech workers celebrated the news last week that the State Department plans to launch a pilot program allowing stateside visa renewals.

10/11/2021

The Appellate Division found that the family court below should have ordered a hearing over whether ex-husband's permanent obligation warranted being increased inasmuch as the ex-husband misrepresented his finances at the time of the parties' divorce (specifically, by having his New Jersey company lend money to his Florida company which he previously represented as having "no value" to the family court).

https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/appellate/unpublished/a0124-20.pdf?c=MpV

10/10/2021

New Jersey's highest court, The New Jersey Supreme Court, reversed both of the courts below, ruling that the burden is on New Jersey's Child Protective Services (named DCP&P) to prove abuse and neglect by a parent, and judges cannot simply infer such abuse in a case involving "shaken baby syndrome".

https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/supreme/a_56_57_19.pdf?c=D6X

10/08/2021

An alimony payment obligation can be properly reduced when the payor begins receiving SSD benefits or long-term disability payments. The receipt of such benefits would be a sufficient "change in circumstances" so as to justify reducing alimony payments.

https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/appellate/unpublished/a4566-19.pdf?c=1Ks

09/29/2021

Vaccination Mandate to Affect 150,000 Teachers and Other School Staff in New York City

Many fear that the mandate will result in a shortage of 10,000 teachers and staff.

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2021-09-27/panel-of-judges-upholds-new-york-citys-vaccine-mandate-for-educators

While more than 90% of teachers are already vaccinated, the mandate was expected to cause staffing shortages in a handful of schools.

09/28/2021

Educators Supporting Families: Teacher Implements ‘Handle with Care’ System to Support Students Having a Bad Day

Parents who are aware that their child had a tough day at home can alert the teacher who will give them extra support at school.

09/24/2021

In New Jersey, men should think carefully before filing claims of domestic violence against their wives. In this Appellate Division case, neither the family court nor the higher court believed a man's claims that he had been

(i) harrassed by his wife,

(ii) confined inside his home by his wife and her sister,

(iii) bitten on his arm six weeks earlier by his wife, and

(iv) stabbed by his wife with a pair of scissors.

It is not uncommon for men to end up defending against domestic violence claims after having been the party to first file one against their spouses.

https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/appellate/unpublished/a0750-20.pdf?c=mDp

09/23/2021

Restraining Orders Can Be Canceled When the Issuing Court Cuts Corners.

Sometimes, a simple error can cause a restraining order to be voided by the higher court, whether it is failing to swear in Portuguese interpreters or adjudicating an inverse claim by the other spouse that should have been dealt with in the other county where it was initially filed.

https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/appellate/unpublished/a0169-20.pdf?c=RXP

09/22/2021

A New York State Family court (Franklin County) held that it cannot compel a custodial father of a 9-year old boy to arrange for the child’s former foster mother to spend any time with the child.

09/21/2021

The Lingering Effects of Substance Abuse on Children of Divorce

Where New Jersey divorce law is concerned, even a "recovered alcoholic" mother can have a tough time trying to see her children.

The New Jersey Appellate Division just upheld a lower trial court's hesitancy to allow a mother to commence reunification therapy with her 12-year old son where the mother had been sober for three years after having had a long history of alcoholism, and the father had been the primary parent for the child due to the prior alcoholism.

https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/appellate/unpublished/a1161-20.pdf?c=uJ6