New Laws, New Party Titles. Easy!

Great news for New Jersey divorce lawyers and family law firms! The newest version of Easy Soft's New Jersey family law software, CIS 2.2 B, is now compliant with relevant legislative changes in effect as recently as September 1, 2011.

First, a little background to catch you up. In 2006, the New Jersey legislature passed the Civil Union and Domestic Partnership Act, recognizing civil unions in New Jersey. This law gives legal recognition to civil unions—although proponents of gender-neutral marriage have made it clear that it's not exactly the same thing. But we digress…

September 1, 2011 (just last week) saw day one of a 2011 Omnibus Rule which (among other things) requires a change in the terminology used in divorce documentation—including your clients'. From the passage of the Civil Union and Domestic Partnership Act until last Thursday, this change had not been mandatory.

In the most basic sense, what this means is that your divorce forms, financial affidavit ( new jersey case information statement), and other documentation can no longer use the terms “husband” and “wife.” Instead, all such documentation must use the words plaintiff and defendant in describing the parties to a divorce action.

As always, Easy Soft comes to the rescue. Our popular divorce software, otherwise known as Case Information Statement or CIS, has many new features (CIS 2.2B) which—among many, many other things—niftily replaces the old terms with the new. Instead of using the outmoded husband and wife terminology, we've employed “plaintiff” and “defendant” everywhere necessary: including the case data collection section, all worksheets, forms, pleadings, and template correspondence.

CIS 2.2B populates the fields with the proper terminology. Even some of our blog entries and examples have been changed. We're not trying to brainwash you…we're just helping you to keep up with the times which are a-changin'.

And with that, once again, Easy Soft has made compliance with new laws as easy and breezy as turning on your computer.

For more information about CIS 2.2B and our other family law software, including our national divorce settlement product Divorce Financials, call Easy Soft at 800.905.7638.

Balancing the Impossible—NJ Equitable Distribution Made Easy

Remember the old fable about King Solomon and the mystery baby? Two mothers claimed the same baby, and so the wise king said, “let's slice him in half.”

One of the mothers said, “okay.” The other said, “absolutely not. She can have him.” Of course, the latter turned out to be the baby's true mom.

If you're a divorce lawyer in New Jersey or another state, you know just what we're talking about. You can split a bank account in two, but you can't do the same with the house. Ditto with your prized sports car, your artwork, your dog. You've got to let one spouse claim these things in full (okay, you might share custody of the dog), and then credit the other spouse with his or her “equitable” portion. Divorce Law 101, right?

Not so fast. If you're like us and you don't love math, it's a nightmare trying to keep all of your client's valuations straight-especially if the spouses are changing it up every two seconds.

That's why we're so proud of our Statement of Assets balance sheet-now a standard feature in the latest release (CIS 2.2 B) of New Jersey's no. 1 family law software.

The sheet allows you to click on Asset Distribution (or liabilities distribution), and then-with a flick of your mouse click-"effectuate" distribution, just like the judge you were born to be. If your client wants to keep the house, then you assign him or her 100% distribution of that item, and assign 0% to his or her spouse. The worksheet crunches the numbers, then spits out a few key numbers-letting you see at a glance whether your client has a surplus or a shortfall of the whole.

To change it up is as easy (and dare we say, fun?) as taking another shot with a brand new digital camera.

Our Divorce Financial customers have long loved this feature of their divorce software. And if you're a divorce attorney in New Jersey, you will, too.

For more information about CIS 2.2B and our other family law software, call Easy Soft at 800.905.7638.

Family Law Software - Electronic Data Collection Module: Easing Divorces One Form at a Time

The New York Statement of Net Worth. If it's not familiar to you, it's a zinger, and you might tear your hair out getting to the bottom of it.

But ask any New York divorce lawyer. Even if you do know what you're doing, it can be a zinger, too.

That's because most law firms—including maybe yours—aren't designed to leverage information to its eyeballs-like it can be. In this golden age of technology, divorce lawyers are capable of utilizing machines to a) enter raw information: names, addresses, birthdates, bank account balances, stock values, pensions, and the like- just once , b) leverage technology to perform calculations within the myriad of worksheets, statements, and other documents you are responsible for, and c) pour the calculations into said documents.

The concept of entering information just once is crucial. You don't have to cross-verify your accuracy: just enter it once, accurately. You don't have to chase down multiple locations to make an adjustment to one piece of data: you simply change it once, in one single place.

Even better, EzSupport-NY now comes with an electronic data collection module called “SupportNewYorkLite.” That gives your client a form to fill out-in the ease of his or her home or office.

Your client receives a simple Microsoft Word file. Once completed, he or she returns it to you (via email). You review it for any red flags or missed entries, then click to “import” it into your EzSupport-NY software.

When this is complete, you've just shrunk a few hours' work into mere minutes. You've saved yourself time, saved your client fees, and increased the accuracy of your data, since your client knows his or her finances best. You've also made your client part of an overriding solution: and leveraged technology at its finest.

To learn more about our family law software, call 800-905-7638.