New Jersey Kayden’s Law Custody Lawyer

If your custody case was filed before the law changed, or your parenting plan is about to be tested under the new rules, you may be wondering what the judge will look at first. Sanvenero & Cittadino, LLC handles divorce and family law for parents and spouses throughout Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex Counties and across New Jersey, and our work on a New Jersey Kayden’s Law custody lawyer search like yours starts with one fact: the order in which a court asks its questions has been reversed.

Kayden’s Law, signed by Governor Phil Murphy in January, rewrote the custody statute, N.J.S.A. 9:2-4. For years, the statute pointed courts toward frequent and continuing contact with both parents. That presumption is gone. In its place, the statute now says custody and parenting-time decisions must promote the safety of children as a threshold issue, and the list of best-interest factors has grown to 15. A judge now asks whether a child is safe before asking how much time each parent should get.

That shift matters whether you are the parent raising a safety concern or the parent answering one. Both sides need to understand how the court will now sequence its thinking, what evidence it expects, and what it can no longer do.

What Kayden’s Law Actually Changed in N.J.S.A. 9:2-4

It helps to separate the amendment from the general best-interests standard, because people tend to blur the two. New Jersey custody was always decided on the child’s best interests. What Kayden’s Law changed is the machinery around that standard.

First, the old preference for frequent and continuing contact with both parents was removed. A court no longer starts from a leaning toward equal or near-equal time. Second, safety became the gateway question. Third, where there is a history of domestic violence or child abuse, the parent responsible for it cannot be awarded increased custody as a way of repairing the relationship with the child. Fourth, judges in contested cases must put detailed findings on the record, so a custody decision has to show its reasoning rather than simply announce a result.

The amendment also tightened the use of professionals. Mental health professionals who perform evaluations must be state-licensed, and when domestic violence or abuse is in the case, they need specific training and experience in those areas. Courts may no longer order reunification therapy unless there is generally accepted, scientifically valid evidence that it is safe and effective. And a judge may not simply label a child’s reluctance to see a parent as parental alienation; the reasons for that reluctance have to be investigated first.

How This Differs From Ordinary Custody Disputes and From Domestic Violence Cases

Two adjacent situations get confused with a Kayden’s Law custody case, and the difference shapes strategy.

An ordinary custody dispute is a disagreement about schedules, schools, and decision-making between two fit parents. Kayden’s Law does not make every such dispute a safety case. If neither parent raises a credible safety concern, the court still works through the best-interest factors, though it no longer starts from a presumption favoring equal contact.

A domestic violence case, by contrast, runs under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991 and produces a restraining order. A temporary restraining order comes with a hearing date within ten days, and a final restraining order, if granted, does not expire. The burden at a final hearing is a preponderance of the evidence. Kayden’s Law sits on top of that: a restraining order, or findings made in that case, can become central evidence when custody is decided, and an abuse history now limits what a court can award the offending parent. We handle both tracks, which matters because a result in one courtroom reverberates in the other.

Why Parents Choose Sanvenero & Cittadino, LLC for Kayden’s Law Custody Matters

Sanvenero & Cittadino, LLC is a full-service New Jersey law firm whose practice is centered on divorce and family law. Our Monmouth County custody lawyers represent parents in negotiated settlements, mediation, collaborative divorce, and contested litigation in the Family Part of the Superior Court, and we serve clients in Ocean and Middlesex Counties and throughout the state. Our team communicates clearly, returns calls, and explains each step in plain terms, which matters when a parent is trying to make sense of a statute that changed this recently.

Richard Sanvenero, our Managing Partner, is a New Jersey Supreme Court Certified Matrimonial Attorney. He previously served as a law clerk in the Family Part of the Superior Court of New Jersey, so he has seen how judges weigh custody evidence from the bench side, and he is trained in mediation, arbitration, and collaborative divorce. Joshua Cittadino, our Founding Partner, brings experience in real estate, construction litigation, personal injury, employment matters, and business transactions, which helps when a custody case is tangled up with a family business or property. Mike Canarick, Of Counsel, is a tax and estate planning attorney who works with our family law team when financial and planning questions follow a custody or divorce case. Our attorneys are admitted in New Jersey, New York, Florida, and the District of Columbia, and several have been recognized by Super Lawyers.

Custody rarely arrives alone. A parent facing a restraining order may also have a firearm permit at risk, a business to protect, or a support order to revisit. Because we work across family, business, real estate, estate planning, and litigation, those parallel problems are handled by one coordinated team rather than several disconnected firms.

Custody Issues Where the Amended Statute Changes the Analysis

• Safety Allegations and Threshold Findings: A parent who raises abuse, neglect, or other danger now puts the safety question first, and the judge must address it on the record before settling the schedule.
• Domestic Violence History: Under the amended statute, a parent with a history of domestic violence or child abuse cannot be given increased custody to rebuild the parent-child relationship, which changes how restraining order findings carry into the custody case.
• Reunification Therapy Requests: Courts may no longer order it without generally accepted, scientifically valid evidence of safety and effectiveness, so a request that once might have been routine now needs real support or a real challenge.
• Parental Alienation Claims: A judge cannot treat a child’s reluctance as alienation without first investigating why the child is reluctant, which affects both the parent making the claim and the parent defending against it.
• Custody Evaluations: Evaluators must be state-licensed, with domestic violence or abuse training and experience where those issues are present, opening the door to challenging an evaluator who lacks that background.
• Child Preference: The expanded list of 15 best-interest factors gives a child’s views more weight, so how a child’s wishes are gathered and presented has become a more significant part of the case.
• Existing Orders and Modification: A parent living under an older custody order may want to know whether the amended law supports a request to revisit it, and the other parent may need to defend a schedule that has worked for years.
• Cases Mixed With Business or Property Issues: When custody sits beside a closely held business, real estate, or high net worth divorce, the timing and framing of each issue need to be coordinated.

What to Do Right Now if Your Custody Case Involves Safety Concerns

Start with documentation, because the amended statute rewards a record. If you are the parent raising a concern, write down dates, incidents, and who was present, and keep medical records, school communications, photographs, messages, and police reports in one place. If the concern involves domestic violence, tell us whether a restraining order has been sought, because a temporary order carries a hearing within ten days and moves fast. If you are the parent responding to an allegation, resist the urge to answer it in a text or email to the other parent. Statements made in anger become exhibits.

Understand which court will decide. Custody and parenting time are decided by the Family Part of the Superior Court. For Monmouth County families, that is the Family Division at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold. In Ocean County, the Family Division sits at the Ocean County Justice Complex in Toms River, and in Middlesex County, the Family Division operates from the Middlesex County Family Courthouse in New Brunswick. Domestic violence applications are heard within the Family Part as well, and the Ocean County Domestic Violence Unit is part of the Justice Complex in Toms River.

If you have been a victim of a crime, separate from the custody case, New Jersey’s Victims of Crime Compensation Office can help eligible victims with medical care, counseling, lost wages, and relocation costs. The crime must have occurred in New Jersey and been reported to police within nine months, or tied to the filing of a restraining order, and the claim must be filed within five years of the crime, with later filing possible for good cause. Eligibility does not depend on the offender being convicted or prosecuted, and there is no minimum loss requirement for incidents on or after June 26, 1995. Our firm helps survivors assemble these claims.

Finally, be careful with the common mistakes. Do not agree to reunification therapy, an evaluator, or a temporary schedule without understanding how the amended statute treats each. Do not assume that a long-standing arrangement will be left alone. And do not wait: because the statute now requires detailed findings, the quality of the evidence you bring early shapes the record the judge works from.

How a Contested Custody Case Unfolds Under the New Standard

A contested custody case in the Family Part typically moves through early case management, exchange of information, possible mediation, and, if there is no agreement, a hearing or trial. What has changed is what the judge must produce at the end. Because the amendment requires detailed findings on the record in contested cases, each side should expect the court to tie its conclusion to the safety inquiry and to the expanded best-interest factors, and to explain it.

For a parent who has safety evidence, that means presenting it in a form a judge can rely on. For a parent defending, it means answering it directly, and in many cases showing that a concern is unfounded or has been addressed. Where professionals are involved, the licensing and training requirements give both sides something concrete to examine. Our family law attorneys prepare these cases with that structure in mind, whether the matter ends in a negotiated parenting plan or a decision after a hearing.

Questions Parents Ask About Kayden’s Law and Custody

What is Kayden’s Law in New Jersey?

It is the amendment to the state custody statute, N.J.S.A. 9:2-4, signed by Governor Phil Murphy in January. It made child safety the threshold issue in custody and parenting-time decisions, removed the presumption favoring frequent and continuing contact with both parents, and expanded the best-interest factors to 15.

Does Kayden’s Law mean one parent automatically gets custody?

No. The law removes a presumption and adds a safety inquiry, but it does not award custody by formula. The court still decides what arrangement serves the child, and in many cases where no safety issue is raised, both parents continue to share meaningful time.

Does the law apply to my existing custody order?

It depends on your circumstances, including the age of the order and whether you are seeking to change it. A parent with a safety concern may have a basis to ask the court to look again. A parent defending an existing arrangement should be ready to explain why it still works. We review the order and the facts before advising.

What counts as a safety concern?

The statute treats child safety as a threshold question, and it specifically addresses a history of domestic violence or child abuse. Beyond those, judges evaluate concerns on the evidence presented, which is why documentation matters.

Can a judge still order reunification therapy?

Only if there is generally accepted, scientifically valid evidence that it is safe and effective. The amendment sharply limits how courts use it, so a request needs real evidentiary support.

What happens if my child does not want to see the other parent?

The court may not simply assume the child has been alienated. It has to look into the reasons for the reluctance. The expanded factors also give a child’s preferences more weight, so what the child says and why both matter.

If there is a restraining order against me, can I still get custody or parenting time?

A restraining order does not by itself end the possibility of parenting time, but under the amended statute a parent with a history of domestic violence or abuse cannot be given increased custody to improve the relationship with the child. Safety comes first, and the findings in the restraining order case can matter a great deal.

Do custody evaluators need special qualifications now?

Yes. Mental health professionals providing evaluations must be state-licensed, and where domestic violence or abuse is involved, they must have specific training and experience in those areas. If an evaluator falls short, that can be raised.

I am a victim of domestic violence. Can I get financial help while my case is pending?

Possibly. The Victims of Crime Compensation Office can assist eligible victims with medical costs, counseling, lost wages, and relocation. You must report the crime within nine months and file within five years, with exceptions for good cause. Claims are filed through the Office’s online application, and we help with the paperwork.

Will a custody dispute affect my firearm permit?

It can. Under a domestic violence restraining order, all firearms must be surrendered and any Firearms Purchaser Identification Card is revoked. Because our firm also handles firearm ID appeals and domestic violence matters, we can address that exposure alongside the custody case.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if we mostly agree on custody?

Often, yes. Even cooperative parents benefit from a parenting plan drafted to fit the amended statute, because a vague agreement can cause trouble later. A negotiated settlement or mediation can keep the case out of a contested hearing while still producing a plan the court will approve.

How long will my custody case take?

Timing varies with the court’s calendar, how many issues are contested, and whether evaluations or experts are needed. A settled matter moves faster than one requiring a hearing, and a case with safety allegations may need more preparation. We will give you a realistic sense of the path once we know the facts.

Serving Custody Clients Across Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex Counties

Our Monmouth County work reaches families in Red Bank, Shrewsbury, Rumson, Middletown, Holmdel, Colts Neck, Tinton Falls, Freehold, Long Branch, and Asbury Park, along with the neighboring communities that feed into the Monmouth County Family Division in Freehold. We also represent parents in Ocean County, including Toms River, whose cases are heard at the Ocean County Justice Complex, and throughout Middlesex County, where the Family Division sits in New Brunswick. Beyond those counties, we take custody matters for clients across New Jersey. Whether a case turns on a safety allegation, a contested evaluation, or a parenting plan that needs to hold up under the amended statute, the same coordinated team handles it for families wherever in our service area they live.

Speak With a New Jersey Kayden’s Law Custody Attorney

If your custody case is being shaped by the new safety standard, a New Jersey Kayden’s Law custody attorney at Sanvenero & Cittadino, LLC can review your situation, explain how the amended statute applies, and help you build or defend a parenting plan. Call us to schedule a consultation and talk through your next step.