Your Spouse Filed.

shutterstock_1896308773

Now What?

You didn't see it coming.

Your marriage wasn't perfect.

Whose is?

But it wasn't that bad.

This?

This feels bad.

You'd been focused on work.

On paying bills.

On taking care of your responsibilities.

Then your spouse filed for divorce.

Now you're worrying whether you'll have enough money, when you'll see your kids, and if you'll have to sell your house.

Friends and family mean well.

But everyone has a different opinion.

One person told you to "...fight like hell!"

But another person said "...fighting IS hell!"

You don't want to fight.

You just want to be treated fairly.

But what exactly is "fair"?

You don't know.

How can you find out?

Meet "DIVORCE SMARTER"

I offer the no cost DIVORCE SMARTER program to help you.

The key is understanding your options before making important decisions.

That's exactly why I created DIVORCE SMARTER.

Welcome to the best one minute a day investment that you can make in your New Jersey divorce case.

The decisions that you will make in the near future will be important ones.

Yet nobody has ever taught you how to DIVORCE SMARTER.

Wouldn't it be helpful to learn how divorce really works in New Jersey?

Not just the law. That's easy. It's all over the internet & on many divorce lawyer's website.

I'm talking about way more than the law... I'm talking about learning how to live life with divorce.

Not from fear.

Not from intimidation.

Rather from sound, wise knowledge from a source who has been dealing with these same issues, both professionally and personally, for 38 years.

Wouldn't it be helpful to calmly learn and clearly understand all of the choices that you can have?

The options regarding child issues?

Financial options?

And all of the other options that are available but nobody discusses much online?

With a real-world, "this can happen" perspective?

So that you can make decisions that are consistent with your values and your best interests?

That's exactly why I created DIVORCE SMARTER .

"DIVORCE SMARTER" will help you make better divorce-related decisions.

It's a free series of short, easy-to-read lessons designed to help you better understand virtually everything about the New Jersey divorce experience, before you start making important decisions.

What You'll Learn

Should you move out?

What should you be doing right now?

What mistakes do people commonly make when negotiating parenting-time arrangements?

Which divorce battles are worth fighting, and which ones usually aren't.

And hundreds of other critical divorce-related issues.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID

"Steve is a fantastic, deeply experienced attorney.

If you want a cutthroat attorney, he's not that guy—and that’s a good thing.

He’s logical, professional, and has the best advice for difficult situations."

J.F. (2018)

ChatGPT Image Mar 28, 2026 at 02_31_05 PM

Why I Created Divorce Smarter

I created DIVORCE SMARTER out of a passion to merge the rather sterile and rigid divorce laws with the fluidity of real life.

A strange coincidence early in my legal career gave me two very different perspectives on divorce at exactly the same time.

While a judge was teaching me how divorce is supposed to work, a divorced family was teaching me how often it, well, just doesn't work as well as it could ... .

That 2-part experience changed the way I view divorce, the way I advise my clients, and ultimately the way that I practice law.

It was incredible.

On the one hand, during the workweek I'd learn something in Court.

Then on a weekend, I'd see how that same issue worked or didn't work with my then-girlfriend's divorce family.

Let me explain it to you because these experiences are what turned me into a better divorce lawyer for the benefit of my clients.

ChatGPT Image Jan 26, 2026 at 11_26_29 AM

Working For The NJ Family Court

In 1986, I began my legal career as a law clerk to a respected New Jersey Family Court judge.

During the week, I learned how divorce is supposed to work.

I learned the law.

I learned the rules.

I learned how judges decide what is fair.

At the very same time, however, I was spending weekends with my future wife and her young children, watching the real-world effects of a divorce that had already SUPPOSEDLY been resolved years earlier.

As a result, I was learning about divorce from two very different perspectives-- at exactly the same time.

One experience taught me how divorce laws are supposed to work.

The other taught me how divorce laws sometimes do not work as intended once families leave the courtroom and return to real life.

Spending Time With My Girlfriend And Her Kids

Something that has stayed with me for nearly four decades:

I SAW THAT THE DIVORCE SYSTEM IS BROKEN.

That realization changed the way I viewed divorce.

It also changed the advice I gave my clients significantly.

DIVORCE SMARTER Sign-Up

MY PROMISE TO YOU

For nearly four decades, I have helped my clients navigate divorce using BOTH the knowledge from my time working for the Court & my knowledge from my experiences living with a divorced family.

The goal of DIVORCE SMARTER is to help people make better decisions by understanding the process before they act.

Because I've learned that better-informed people usually make better divorce-related decisions.

And better divorce decisions often lead to better divorce outcomes.

And after all...isn't that the goal?

To stop lying awake at night...

To firmly DECIDE what happens next...

To figure out a way to have enough money for what you really need to start over...

To be certain that you will be with your children often...

To have an equal voice into whether you have to sell your home...

To be able to tell which advice given by friends and family makes sense to you and which does not...

And to effectively manage the endless stress that right now might be hard to manage, so that life becomes better.