Q: Do the parents of a child have to go to court if they are not together or have different addresses in New Jersey?

A: Hi and thanks for asking your question. I will do my best to answer you here, but I'm a little unclear as to what you are asking. Hopefully, I'll be able to offer a little bit of assistance. You ask if you and your child's other parent have to go to court if you are not together. I'm not sure why you are asking, but I'm going to assume you are thinking about setting up a custody, parenting time and child support arrangement.

Courts really favor parents coming up with their own agreements when it comes to their kids. If you and your ex are able to co-parent effectively and you can agree upon a child support amount that you can both live with, then you are free to work out your own arrangements and you do not need court intervention. You will simply live your lives based on what works for the family.

But, if you want the agreement to be clear and in writing (which we always recommend), then I suggest that you sit down together, come up with an agreement and file it with the court. If you come up with a parenting agreement but you simply don't file it, then it has no "teeth" and you can't enforce it in court if something goes wrong.

You can do this with the assistance of a mediator if you need a little more guidance. At the very least, consider a consult with a family law attorney, so that you know what the law is and what your rights and responsibilities are. Many attorneys, like our firm, offer free consults. Hoping this was helpful! Regards, Bari.