Parents who abuse, abandon, neglect or cause the death of their children will be ineligible for alimony and for inheritance benefits from their children’s estates, under a new state law signed by Gov. Jon Corzine on April 17 that takes effect in July. The new law amends N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 to deny alimony to a person convicted of murder, manslaughter, criminal homicide, death by auto or vessel, aggravated assault or a similar offense in another jurisdiction if the crime results in the death of a child and is committed after the divorce or dissolution of the marriage or civil union. It also amends N.J.S.A. 3B:5-4 to eliminate inheritance rights for a surviving parent who abused, abandoned, negligently endangered the welfare of, or committed a sexual offense against, the child. And it amends N.J.S.A. 34:15-21 to eliminate recovery under worker’s compensation statutes by parents found to have committed the same acts against their child.
Source: April 21, 2009 Edition of the New Jersey Law Journal