The Supreme Court’s term included three notable cases in the area of family law. One case, Tannen v. Tannen, 208 N.J. 409 (2011), involved the overlap between family law and the laws of trusts. Another case, N.J. Div. of Youth and Family Servs. v. R.D., 207 N.J. 88 (2011), dealt with collateral estoppel in a termination of parental rights case. The third case, Segal v. Lynch, 207 N.J. 190 (2012), addressed the issue of what an attorney who was appointed as a parenting coordinator could actually bill for.
Intersection of Trusts and Family Law
In a per curium opinion, the Court in Tannen affirmed the Appellate Division. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not write anything new but simply adopted the ruling of the Appellate Division based on the reasons expressed in Judge Messano’s opinion at 416 N.J. Super. 248 (App. Div. 2010). The Supreme Court failed to write an opinion notwithstanding an invitation by Judge Messano to do so:
