Family disputes involving a military household continued in both New Jersey and Poland for years. The firm ultimately secured dismissal without prejudice of a pending New Jersey enforcement motion after showing that Poland had become the more appropriate forum.

Litigation in two countries

The firm represented a service member through divorce and post-judgment proceedings involving parenting, support, and enforcement issues. After the family relocated to Poland, courts there began addressing parenting and other family matters. New Jersey proceedings nevertheless continued on some financial provisions of the divorce agreement. Earlier New Jersey rulings distinguished custody jurisdiction from certain financial enforcement questions. Both parties' domestic-violence complaints had previously been dismissed without a final restraining order and replaced by mutual civil restraints; the divorce agreement, incorporated into the 2019 judgment, expressly contemplated residence in Poland. Those events explain why the later jurisdictional dispute crossed borders, but the website result centers on the 2025 forum decision.

In a later New Jersey motion, the former spouse sought additional relief concerning support and expenses. The firm developed a record showing the parties' and children's residence in Poland, the active proceedings there, the registration of the New Jersey divorce documents in Poland, and the practical overlap among the disputed issues. By late 2024, the record reflected approximately a dozen Polish court or authority proceedings involving the parties. The firm showed that the New Jersey judgment and settlement agreement had been registered in Poland, while the service member remained subject to military rules requiring compliance with valid support orders. It argued that dividing closely related financial questions between two countries burdened the parties and risked duplicative litigation. The firm asked the New Jersey court to decline to continue adjudicating the pending dispute across two forums.

The forum ruling

After hearing counsel in June 2025, the New Jersey Superior Court dismissed the pending enforcement motion without prejudice and expressly found that Polish courts were the more appropriate forum for the remaining dispute. The ruling concluded that phase of the New Jersey litigation; it did not determine the merits of the underlying financial requests.

Result

The pending New Jersey enforcement motion was dismissed without prejudice in favor of litigation in Poland, where the parties and children lived and related proceedings were active.

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Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Results depend on the particular facts and legal circumstances of each matter.