New Jersey will not refund your filing fee or reset the clock because your paperwork was filed a few weeks too early. These errors are rarely noticed until months later, when a custody order needs to be enforced or a settlement looks lopsided suddenly.
Filing Before You Meet the Residency Requirement
New Jersey requires that at least one spouse has lived in the state for 12 consecutive months immediately before filing for divorce, according to N.J.S.A. 2A:34-10. The exception applies only to adultery cases where no minimum residency period is required if one spouse currently lives in New Jersey.
If you file too early on any other grounds, the court simply does not have jurisdiction to hear your case. This means starting over and paying filing costs again. If you have recently moved to New Jersey, confirm the date before taking any further action.
Treating the Case Information Statement as a Formality
Divorces involving disputed custody, support, or property division require both spouses to file a case information statement, the document that outlines income, assets, debts, and monthly expenses in detail. People often rush through it, estimating account balances instead of checking statements or leaving out a bonus because they felt it was irrelevant at the time. The form asks for specific information that most people don’t have memorized, such as:
- Every source of income, including not just the base salary.
- Monthly expenses broken down into categories like housing, transportation, childcare, etc.
- Retirement accounts, real estate holdings, and business interests – valued as of the filing date, rather than estimated.
Assuming Property Splits Evenly Down the Middle
New Jersey is a state that follows the principle of equitable distribution of property, rather than community property. This distinction may surprise some people. The courts in New Jersey divide marital assets based on what they consider to be fair, taking into account various factors as outlined in N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23.1. These factors include:
- The length of the marriage
- Each spouse’s individual income, debts, and future earning potential
- Contributions made to the marriage, both financial and non-financial, such as raising children or supporting the other spouse’s career
A spouse who leaves the workforce to raise children may be entitled to a larger share precisely because that choice limits future earning power.
Relying on Outdated Assumptions About Custody Law
Custody law in New Jersey was changed substantially in January 2026. Lawmakers restructured N.J.S.A. 9:2-4, removing the long-standing presumption of frequent contact with both parents and making the child’s safety a priority for courts to consider. Parents relying on old practices, such as a friend’s case or outdated guides, may be operating from a framework that is no longer applicable. This is an area where outdated advice can do real harm.
Signing the Settlement Agreement Without Independent Review
A Marital Settlement Agreement controls almost everything that follows a divorce: parenting time, support, and who keeps what. New Jersey courts favor letting couples resolve these matters themselves, and a judge will approve an agreement that both spouses accept knowingly and voluntarily, without second-guessing every term.
That approval confirms the process was fair. It does not confirm the outcome. Even in the friendliest split, each spouse benefits from having their own attorney review the agreement before signing it, not the other spouse’s lawyer, or a form pulled from the internet.
Talk to a Hudson County Divorce Attorney Before You File
Most of these mistakes happen early in the process, often before either spouse has consulted a lawyer. Attorney Lazaro Carvajal has more than a decade of experience guiding families through divorce, custody, and alimony cases with the kind of personalized attention that helps catch these issues before they become expensive. If you are considering a divorce or have already filed for one, schedule a free consultation with Carvajal Law before taking the next step, rather than after.