Family Practice

Scope

This file explains New Jersey family court practice at a working-attorney level: the jurisdiction of the Chancery Division, Family Part, the structure of a dissolution (divorce) case from complaint through final judgment, the Family Case Information Statement and pendente lite practice, child support guidelines and the Probation Division's enforcement role, custody and parenting time procedure, and domestic violence restraining orders. It is New Jersey-specific, as is all of module 04; it does not cover federal family law, the substantive matrimonial-law rules of other states, juvenile delinquency practice beyond the Family Part's jurisdiction, or the law of evidence.

Legal Explanation

Everything in this topic is New Jersey-specific (module 04 covers NJ practice only). No point here states national or NCBE law; family law is state law, and the procedural text that controls NJ practice is the Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey, published on njcourts.gov. The Rules of Court page notes it includes amendments effective on or before June 1, 2026, and Part V (the family rules) was verified there on 2026-08-20 via the Judiciary's own Rules of Court search interface, including the operative text of R. 5:1-1, R. 5:1-2, R. 5:4-2, R. 5:5-2, R. 5:5-4, R. 5:5-9, R. 5:6A, R. 5:7-2, R. 5:7-4, R. 5:7A, R. 5:8-5, and R. 5:8-6 [S1].

The Family Part and its jurisdiction (NJ-specific). New Jersey family matters are heard in the Chancery Division, Family Part. R. 5:1-1 provides that "the rules in Part V shall govern family actions," with Part I applying insofar as applicable, Part IV applying to civil family actions, and Part III applying to criminal, quasi-criminal, and juvenile delinquency family actions except as Part V provides otherwise [S1, R. 5:1-1]. R. 5:1-2 defines the Family Part's cognizability: "all actions in which the principal claim is unique to and arises out of a family or family-type relationship, including palimony actions, shall be filed and heard in the Chancery Division, Family Part," including all actions formerly designated as matrimonial actions, actions under the Domestic Partnership Act (N.J.S.A. 26:8A-1 et seq.), actions relating to civil unions (N.J.S.A. 37:1-28 et seq.), and all actions formerly cognizable in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court; criminal actions for willful nonsupport under N.J.S.A. 2C:24-5 are prosecuted in the Family Part subject to transfer to the Law Division if the defendant demands a jury trial [S1, R. 5:1-2]. The Family Practice Division's own page confirms the breadth of the docket through its published docket-type letters: FA (adoption), FC (child placement review), FD (custody in non-divorce cases), FF (juvenile family crisis), FG (termination of parental rights and adoption rights), FJ (juvenile), FL (kinship and legal guardianship), FM (divorce/dissolution), FN (child abuse/neglect), FO (quasi-criminal), and FV (domestic violence and Victims' Assistance and Survivor Protection Act matters) [S2]. Part V contains separate rule chapters for termination of parental rights (R. 5:9), kinship legal guardianship (R. 5:9A), adoption (R. 5:10), proceedings by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (R. 5:12), child placement review (R. 5:13), and parent-child relationship determinations (R. 5:14); their existence and subject matter are verified from the official rule index, though their full text was not opened for this topic [S1].

The dissolution case: complaint, process, and pleadings (NJ-specific). New Jersey courts describe divorce as "dissolution," and the same process applies to ending a marriage, civil union, domestic partnership, or seeking an annulment; either party may file in New Jersey if at least one person lives in the state, and venue lies in the county where the parties last lived together (or, if neither lives in New Jersey, where the other person lives), per the Judiciary's self-help guidance citing R. 5:7-1 [S3]. R. 5:4-2 requires every complaint in a family action to be captioned in the Chancery Division, Family Part, and to include "a statement of the essential facts constituting the basis of the relief sought," the statutes relied on, each party's street or post office address (or a statement that it is unknown), a statement of any previous family actions between the parties, and the facts on which venue is based; if a civil union or domestic partnership exists, the complaint must say so and include a separate cause of action for dissolution or termination [S1, R. 5:4-2]. The self-help guidance lists the standard filing package: the Divorce Complaint, the Certification of Verification and Non-Collusion, the Summons, the Confidential Litigant Information Sheet (CN 10486), the Self-Represented Litigant Certification of Notification of Complementary Dispute Resolution (CDR) Alternatives (CN 10889), a Certification of Insurance Coverage, and the Family Part Case Information Statement (CN 10482), which is required when custody, support, alimony, or property division are disputed [S3]. Grounds for divorce under New Jersey law include no-fault irreconcilable differences (12 months of New Jersey residence, with irreconcilable differences of at least six months' duration), separation of at least 18 months, extreme cruelty (see N.J.S.A. 2A:34-2), and other grounds such as adultery, institutionalization, or long-term incarceration [S3]. The complaint may be filed electronically through the Judiciary Electronic Document Submission (JEDS) system, in person, or by mail; the plaintiff's complaint fee is $300, the defendant's filing fee is $175, and each party pays an additional $25 parenting workshop fee if custody or parenting time is requested, with fee waivers available for low-income litigants; the other party must be served within 60 days of filing, typically by county sheriff's officer or process server [S3]. Note that fees and deadlines change — these amounts were verified on the official self-help page on 2026-08-20 [S3].

The Family Case Information Statement and pendente lite relief (NJ-specific). R. 5:5-2 requires a case information statement (CIS) to be filed and served in all contested family actions, except summary actions, in which there is any issue as to custody, support, alimony, or equitable distribution; each party must file an initial CIS, or a certification that none is required, within 20 days after filing an Answer or Appearance, on a form prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts, and the court may dismiss a party's pleadings for failure to file [S1, R. 5:5-2]. The Family Practice Division publishes the form as the Family Part Case Information Statement (CN 10482) [S2]. Applications for support, counsel fees, and costs pendente lite — whether made with the complaint or by later motion — must be accompanied by a completed CIS, with amendments filed no later than eight days before the motion hearing date; where pendente lite relief is sought by way of preliminary restraint, contempt, or enforcement of litigant's rights, the application must be by motion or order to show cause [S1, R. 5:7-2]. Motions in family actions are generally governed by R. 1:6-2(b), but the court ordinarily grants oral argument on substantive and non-routine discovery motions and ordinarily denies it on calendar and routine discovery motions; motions to establish alimony or child support must attach a current CIS, and motions to enforce or modify a prior order must append the order or judgment at issue [S1, R. 5:5-4].

Settlement, early intervention, and final judgment (NJ-specific). The Judiciary's self-help guidance describes several settlement tracks after filing: custody and parenting time mediation (which the court may require), the Early Settlement Panel (ESP), in which experienced divorce attorneys review the case and suggest a fair settlement through a county ESP coordinator, economic mediation of financial issues, and arbitration; mediation is not required where a restraining order is in place [S3]. Part V implements this through R. 5:5-5 (participation in early settlement programs) and related procedures whose existence and titles are verified from the official rule index [S1]. When a settlement is placed on the record, a contemporaneous written final judgment must be entered, and the parties may submit a proposed amended form of final judgment within ten days [S1, R. 5:5-9]. The self-help guidance notes that a Judgment of Divorce becomes a permanent record, with recent cases kept at the county courthouse and older cases archived by the Superior Court Clerk's Office [S3].

Child support: the guidelines and the court's role (NJ-specific). R. 5:6A provides that "the guidelines set forth in Appendix IX of these Rules shall be applied when an application to establish or modify child support is considered by the court"; the guidelines "may be modified or disregarded by the court only where good cause is shown," defined as (a) the considerations in Appendix IX-A or other relevant factors making the guidelines inapplicable, and (b) a finding that an injustice would result from applying them; a completed child support guidelines worksheet in the form prescribed by Appendix IX must be attached to any order or judgment that includes child support, with the reason stated for any deviation [S1, R. 5:6A]. Appendix IX to the rules contains the guidelines' supporting material, including the Considerations in the Use of Child Support Guidelines (Appendix IX-A), the worksheet instructions (Appendix IX-B), sole and shared parenting worksheets (Appendices IX-C and IX-D), and the Basic Child Support Award Schedule (Appendix IX-F), all verified by title from the official rule index [S1]. R. 5:7-4 requires the court to separate alimony or maintenance from child support in its award (unless good cause is shown) and to designate payments for health care, child care, and other necessary child expenses as part of the child support award; enforcement of child support orders is presumptively in the county where the order was first established, with Probation Division supervision following venue [S1, R. 5:7-4]. The Probation Child Support Enforcement page confirms the administrative machinery: by law, all court-ordered child support is subject to income withholding, obligors must report income changes to the probation division, and unpaid support creates a past-due balance with a possible arrears payback amount; enforcement tools for nonpayment or failure to provide court-ordered health coverage include bringing the parties back to court for a hearing, recommending a bench warrant, license suspension (recreational or driver's) in limited circumstances, recording a judgment, bank levy, tax refund offset, passport denial, and credit reporting; payments are collected through the New Jersey Family Support Payment Center and disbursed to obligees by direct deposit or debit card [S4]. A parent can ask the court to establish or enforce child support: the self-help guidance describes a $6 fee to apply for full child support services (including enforcement), a post-judgment motion to enforce an existing order, and partial services (location of the other parent, paternity establishment, health insurance coverage orders, and payment processing for $25 per year) [S5]. This topic was written for attorneys, but the same self-help pages are the practical reference for pro se family litigants [S3; S5].

Custody and parenting time (NJ-specific). Where the parties cannot agree on custody or parenting time, R. 5:8-5 requires each party to file a Custody and Parenting Time/Visitation Plan, which the court considers "in awarding custody and fixing a parenting time or visitation schedule"; the plan must be filed no later than 75 days after the last responsive pleading (or within 14 days after an unsuccessful mediation permitted by R. 1:40-5(a)), and its contents include the parties' addresses and employment, the type of custody requested with reasons (joint legal custody with one parent having primary residential care, joint physical custody, or sole custody), and related factors [S1, R. 5:8-5]. R. 5:8-6 requires the court, where custody is a "genuine and substantial issue," to set a hearing date no later than six months after the last responsive pleading, and permits the custody hearing to be held before the final hearing of the entire family action; the court may conduct an in camera interview of the child, with a stenographic or recorded record, and must place on the record its reasons for declining to do so [S1, R. 5:8-6]. The Judiciary also maintains a Parenting Coordinator Program and publishes statewide directories of family judges, division managers, matrimonial early settlement coordinators, parenting coordinators, economic mediators for matrimonial cases, and supervised visitation coordinators [S2].

Domestic violence restraining orders (NJ-specific). R. 5:7A governs restraining orders in "proceedings instituted under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1990": the judge "shall issue a temporary restraining order when the applicant appears to be in danger of domestic violence," and the order "may be issued ex parte when necessary to protect the life, health, or well-being of a victim"; venue lies in the county where either party resides, where the domestic violence offense took place, or where the victim is sheltered, and the final hearing is held in the county where the ex parte restraints were ordered unless good cause is shown; an applicant must appear before a judge or a domestic violence hearing officer to testify personally on the record or submit a sworn complaint under N.J.S.A. 2C:25-28 [S1, R. 5:7A]. The Family Practice Division publishes a Domestic Violence Procedures Manual whose focus is implementing the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, along with annual reports on the Domestic Violence Act [S2]. Part V also contains R. 5:7B (protective orders under the Sexual Assault Survivor Protection Act) and R. 5:6B (cost-of-living adjustments for child support orders), verified by title from the official rule index [S1].

Where a new attorney finds forms and guidance (NJ-specific). The Family Practice Division page links the most-used family forms — including the Family Part Case Information Statement (CN 10482) and orders used in child abuse/neglect (FN), termination of parental rights (FG), and kinship legal guardianship (FL) matters — and points to the full forms catalog and the self-help center for forms and information for self-represented litigants [S2]. The self-help divorce pages describe the forms, fees, filing methods (JEDS, in person, by mail), service requirements, and settlement options summarized above [S3]. The court strongly recommends consulting a lawyer before filing or responding to a divorce complaint, and directs low-income litigants to Legal Services of New Jersey and the New Jersey State Bar Association's lawyer referral services [S3]. Court staff may explain procedures and provide forms, but may not give legal advice [S3].

ELI-10: Explain It Like I'm 10

[HYPOTHETICAL — NOT A REAL CASE] Imagine two best friends, Maya and Theo, who run a neighborhood bookshop together and share a goldfish named Waffles. After years of working side by side, they decide they can't run the shop together anymore and want to split everything — the shop, the money, and Waffles. There is a special "bookshop court" in their town. Because the bookshop is the center of their whole shared life, the town's rulebook says every dispute about it goes to that one court, and nowhere else.

Maya files the first paper, which must explain what the fight is about and which town rules she is relying on. Theo gets a copy within a set number of days. Before the judge will do anything, each of them must fill out a long "everything about us" form — the shop's income, their savings, who takes care of Waffles — because the judge refuses to decide anything about money or Waffles while looking at only half the picture. They are encouraged to sit down with experienced helpers to agree on their own, but if they can't, the rulebook has a food chart: it says exactly how much each person should pay for Waffles' food each month based on how much money each makes, and the judge can only use a different number if there's a really good reason, written down on the order. Whoever is supposed to pay must have the money taken straight out of their pay, and if they stop paying, the court can take the money from their bank account or even their tax refund. If they disagree about Waffles, each must file a "Waffles plan" saying who gets her on which days, and the judge must hold a hearing within six months. And if one of them ever felt truly unsafe around the other, the judge could give out a "stay away" paper the very same day.

Translating back to the real rule: the bookshop court is the Chancery Division, Family Part, which hears "all actions in which the principal claim is unique to and arises out of a family or family-type relationship" under R. 5:1-2, with Part V of the Rules of Court governing the case under R. 5:1-1 [S1]. The first paper is the dissolution complaint under R. 5:4-2, and the "everything about us" form is the Family Case Information Statement required by R. 5:5-2 (CN 10482) [S1; S2]. The experienced helpers are the Early Settlement Program and mediation options described on the Judiciary's self-help pages and reflected in R. 5:5-5 [S1; S3]. The food chart is the Child Support Guidelines in Appendix IX, applied under R. 5:6A unless good cause is shown, with the worksheet attached to the order [S1]. Taking money straight out of pay is the income withholding described on the Probation Child Support Enforcement page, whose enforcement tools include bank levies and tax refund offsets [S4]. The "Waffles plan" is the Custody and Parenting Time/Visitation Plan of R. 5:8-5, and the six-month hearing is the custody trial schedule of R. 5:8-6 [S1]. The "stay away" paper is the temporary restraining order issued under R. 5:7A when an applicant appears to be in danger of domestic violence [S1].

Real Case Reference (if applicable)

No published decision is cited in this topic. The topic describes the structure and procedure of the New Jersey Family Part as established by the Part V Rules of Court and the Judiciary's own pages, and the controlling authorities — R. 5:1-1, R. 5:1-2, R. 5:4-2, R. 5:5-2, R. 5:5-4, R. 5:6A, R. 5:7-2, R. 5:7-4, R. 5:7A, R. 5:8-5, and R. 5:8-6 — were verified directly from the official rule text on 2026-08-20 [S1]. Much of New Jersey family law's doctrine (for example, the content of the custody "best interests" analysis) is developed in case law that this topic does not summarize, because no such opinion was opened and verified within this topic's research budget; a new attorney should consult the case law and the governing statutes (including N.J.S.A. 2A:34-2 on grounds for divorce, cited on the official self-help page) before advising on any substantive question [S1; S3].

Key Takeaways

• New Jersey family matters are heard in the Chancery Division, Family Part, whose cognizability under R. 5:1-2 covers all actions in which the principal claim arises out of a family or family-type relationship — including matrimonial actions, palimony, civil union and domestic partnership matters, and the docket types (adoption, abuse/neglect, termination of parental rights, juvenile matters, domestic violence) reflected in the Family Practice Division's docket letters [S1, R. 5:1-2; S2].
• A dissolution case begins with a complaint captioned in the Chancery Division, Family Part, stating the essential facts, the statutes relied on, party addresses, prior family actions, and venue facts (R. 5:4-2); filing is via JEDS, in person, or by mail, with a $300 plaintiff complaint fee, $175 defendant fee, and $25 parenting workshop fee, and service within 60 days [S1, R. 5:4-2; S3].
• The Family Case Information Statement (CN 10482) is required in any contested family action involving custody, support, alimony, or equitable distribution, filed within 20 days after an Answer or Appearance, and must accompany pendente lite applications for support (R. 5:5-2; R. 5:7-2) [S1; S2].
• Child support is calculated under the guidelines in Appendix IX and may be deviated from only for good cause, with a completed worksheet attached to every support order; all court-ordered child support is subject to income withholding, and Probation enforces orders through hearings, bench warrants, license suspension, bank levy, tax refund offset, passport denial, and credit reporting (R. 5:6A; R. 5:7-4) [S1; S4].
• When parents cannot agree, each must file a Custody and Parenting Time/Visitation Plan within 75 days of the last responsive pleading, and the court must schedule a custody hearing within six months where custody is a genuine and substantial issue (R. 5:8-5; R. 5:8-6) [S1].
• Domestic violence restraining orders are issued under R. 5:7A in proceedings under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1990, with ex parte temporary restraining orders available when the applicant appears to be in danger, and the final hearing in the county where the restraints were ordered [S1].

Sources

• [S1] New Jersey Courts, "Rules of Court," https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/rules-of-court — Part V (family rules) rule text verified via the site's Rules of Court search on 2026-08-20; page notes it includes amendments effective on or before June 1, 2026. Rules cited: R. 5:1-1, R. 5:1-2, R. 5:4-2, R. 5:5-2, R. 5:5-4, R. 5:5-5, R. 5:5-9, R. 5:6A, R. 5:6B, R. 5:7-1, R. 5:7-2, R. 5:7-4, R. 5:7A, R. 5:7B, R. 5:8-5, R. 5:8-6, R. 5:9, R. 5:9A, R. 5:10, R. 5:12, R. 5:13, R. 5:14; Appendix IX-A through IX-F (child support guidelines appendices; titles verified from the rule index).
• [S2] New Jersey Courts, "Family Practice Division," https://www.njcourts.gov/courts/family (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S3] New Jersey Courts, "Divorce (Self-Help Center)," https://www.njcourts.gov/self-help/divorce (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S4] New Jersey Courts, "Probation Child Support Enforcement," https://www.njcourts.gov/courts/child-support (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S5] New Jersey Courts, "Child Support and Custody — Child Support (Self-Help Center)," https://www.njcourts.gov/self-help/child-support-custody/child-support (verified 2026-08-20).

Not Legal Advice