The Supreme Court’s term included two notable cases in the area of family law, though only one stems from a matrimonial matter. One case, Emma v. Evans, 215 N.J. 197 (2013), required the court to address the standard in a dispute to rename a child of divorced parents, which was an issue of first impression for New Jersey. The other case, New Jersey Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. R.G., 217 N.J. 527 (2014), addressed whether imprisonment alone was sufficient to terminate a party’s parental rights.
Changing Child’s Last Name
In Emma v. Evans, the court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Division, holding that: (1) in a dispute to rename a child of divorced parents, the party seeking to alter the surname jointly given to the child at birth bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the change is in the child’s best interest; and (2) irrespective of whether the parents were married at the time of the child’s birth, the best-interests-of-the-child test should be applied in a renaming dispute without a presumption in favor of the custodial parent’s decision to change the jointly given surname of the child.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
