1. Governor Corzine Signed a New Law that Prohibits Alimony and Awards Concerning Equitable Distribution to Persons who Commit Certain Crimes; Eliminates Inheritance Rights for Parents who Abuse or Abandon Children
New Law prohibits alimony and awards concerning equitable distribution to persons who commit certain crimes; eliminates inheritance rights for parents who abuse or abandon children. This Law is intended to ensure that undeserving persons are not rewarded financially by the alimony and intestacy laws of this State.
Section 1 of the Law denies alimony to any person convicted of murder, manslaughter, criminal homicide, death by auto or vessel, aggravated assault, or a substantially similar offense under the laws of another jurisdiction, if the crime results in the death of another person and if the crime was committed after the divorce or dissolution of the marriage or civil union. Section 1 also provides that a court's authority to deny alimony for other bad acts is not changed. Under prior law, fault is irrelevant to alimony awards except if: (1) the fault affects the economic life of the parties or (2) the fault so violates societal norms that continuing the economic bonds between the parties would confound notions of simple justice. Calbi v. Calbi, 396 N.J. Super. 532, 540 (App. Div. 2007).
Section 2 of the Law eliminates a parent's right to inherit from the estate of their child if the parent abused, abandoned, neglected, endangered the welfare of, or committed any sexual offense against the minor child. If a parent is disqualified from taking a distributive share in the estate of a decedent under the section 2 of the Law, the estate of the child is distributed as though the parent had predeceased the decedent. Section 2 also provides that no sibling of the half blood of the decedent whose parent is disqualified may take a distributive share in the estate of the deceased child.
Under old law, the intestate share of a decedent child's estate is equally distributed between the surviving parents, regardless of whether that child's parents abused the child prior to his death.
Legislation Assembly members Sandra Love, Paul D. Moriarty and Valerie Vainieri Huttle sponsored to block alimony payments to convicted killers and eliminate inheritance rights for parents who abandon or abuse a child was signed into law by Governor Jon S. Corzine.
Under New Law (A-2681), alimony will be denied to any person convicted of a crime that resulted in death or serious bodily injury to a family member of a divorcing party, and the crime was committed after the marriage or civil union.
In addition, a person convicted of an attempt or conspiracy to commit murder will not receive alimony from the person who was the intended victim or be awarded equitable distribution.
The legislation was prompted by the case of Chris Calbi, a 14-year-old-boy from Old Tappan, Bergen County, who died after sustaining a lethal kick to the neck from his mother during a domestic argument.
Following his son's death, Calbi's father found there was no legal precedent to preclude his having to make alimony payments to his estranged wife upon her parole.
"This law really serves a simple and singular purpose: to keep money out of the hands of those who would go so far as to beat and kill their own family and then expect to receive an alimony payment from a former spouse." "Convicted killers should not be able to profit from their misdeeds."
The law also seeks to prevent abusive parents from receiving an inheritance settlement from the estates of a deceased child.
It was prompted by the horrific case of Faheem Williams, the 7-year-old Newark youngster whose mummified corpse was found in an apartment basement by police in 2003 after his mother had abandoned him and other siblings to live with her cousin.
Although the cousin pled guilty to manslaughter in Faheem's death, Faheem's mother had to be separately barred from seeking the $1 million that the state paid to her son's estate.
Under previous law, the intestate share of a decedent child's estate was equally distributed between the surviving parents, regardless of whether that child's parents abused the child before his death.
"Any parent found to have abused their child should immediately forfeit their right to their child's estate."
"No parent who puts their innocent child's life in danger should get one penny."
"We need to take proactive steps to ensure that when a child is the victim of a tragic crime or the subject of abuse their estates are not looted by family members whose very neglect led to their deaths."
Under the law, a parent loses all rights to intestate succession and to administer the estate if:
They refused to acknowledge or abandoned the child by willfully forsaking or failing to care for it in such a way that it exposed the child to physical or moral risk.
"They were convicted of committing sexual assault, criminal sexual contact, endangering welfare of children, attempt or conspiracy to murder the child or committed abuse or neglect that contributed to the child's death. The subject of abuse their estates are not looted by family members whose very neglect led to their deaths."
Under the New Law, a parent loses all rights to intestate succession and to administer the estate if:
They refused to acknowledge or abandoned the child by willfully forsaking or failing to care for it in such a way that it exposed the child to physical or moral risk.
"They were convicted of committing sexual assault, criminal sexual contact, endangering welfare of children, attempt or conspiracy to murder the child or committed abuse or neglect that contributed to the child's death."
2. Governor Corzine Signs New Law Limiting Teen Drivers.
New Jersey is first state to have teen driver decal. Senate Bill S-2314/A-3069 requires the use of an identifier on vehicles driven by teens holding a permit or provisional license.
"Having a driver's license is an awesome responsibility for any teenager," Governor Corzine said. "The legislation I am signing today initiates several preventative measures to help avoid further teen driving tragedies while ensuring that our young people are better prepared to safely take to the roadways."
The new law also will assist police in identifying young drivers who may be in violation of the Graduated Driver License (GDL) restrictions.
Governor Corzine also signed S-16/A-3070, revising nighttime driving and passenger restrictions on permit and provisional drivers. New Jerseys' Graduated Driver License (GDL) law currently restricts teens on a provisional license from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. Although only 15 percent of miles driven by 16 and 17-year-olds are between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., more than 40 percent of their fatal crashes occur during this time period. The bill also renames the provisional license "probationary."
"We live in the most densely populated state in the nation in an era of constant distractions." Over the last few years, we've witnessed a number of tragic accidents that could have been avoided. Hopefully these changes will make sure that inexperienced drivers have greater supervision and less distractions while they're still learning the ropes."
"Statistics show that 40 percent of fatal teen car accidents occur between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m." "This new law will work to protect all drivers by reducing these numbers, while also making it easier for law enforcement officers to identify teen drivers. This bill isn't about profiling, but instead ensuring that parents, young drivers and police officers are able to take an active role in protecting our roadways."
The bills signed today address four recommendations contained in the Teen Driver Study Commission's March 2008 report. Three of those recommendations are essential for stemming the tide of teen driver crashes that last year claimed 60 teen lives - 37 drivers and 23 passengers.
"Every nine minutes a teen crashes in New Jersey," Division of Highway Traffic Safety Director Pam Fischer said. "The legislation signed today by Governor Corzine will help to ensure that young drivers, who clearly face a higher risk on our roadways, remain safe during the most dangerous time of their lives. These bills will help reduce teen crashes and ultimately save young lives."
According to the NJ Teen Driver Study Commission Report, a teen driver is 158 percent more likely to be killed in a crash while carrying two passengers. The risk increases to 207 percent when there are three passengers in a teen driver's car. The increased risk is often the result of distraction and others in the car encouraging the teen driver to take risks with most teen crashes in NJ occur after school.
In total, the report outlines 47 recommendations to help reduce teen crashes, and ultimately save lives. While the State has the oldest minimum driving age in the nation (17) and a strong Graduated Driver License (GDL) law that addresses teen risk factors (i.e., passengers, nighttime driving, cell phones, and seat belts), the Commission determined that more can and must be done to reduce teen driver crashes and save lives.
Between 2002 and 2008, more than 400 teen drivers and teens who were passengers in teen-driven vehicles, died on the state's roadways.
3. Homeowner's Insurance Company Must Pay for Injury to Tire Changer Who Fell on Ice, Not Car Insurance.
3-25-09 Penn National Insurance Company v. Frank Costa
(A-36-08)
In order to determine whether an injury arises out of the maintenance, operation or use of a motor vehicle thereby triggering automobile insurance coverage, there must be a substantial nexus between the injury suffered and the asserted negligent maintenance, operation or use of the motor vehicle.
In this case, there is no rational linkage between the negligent failure to clear the driveway of snow and ice and the entirely non-negligent maintenance activity in which Costa was engaged.
Therefore, Costa's homeowners insurance policy must respond to Arians's claims.
4. Welcome Spring Staff to Kenneth Vercammen & Associates, P.C.
This spring we have accepted into our mentor / internship program the following four people and they have done a great job.
Joseph Jakubczyk of St. Peter's College
Paula Anna Iwaniuk of Drew University
Tanya Sharp of Colorado Technical University
Ruchita Oza, who obtained her Masters of Law from Temple University Beasley School of Law.
