Are You Specialist Material?

By Ketan Soni and Carolyn Krueger-Andes

Being Special(ist)

We’re all busy all the time. Some of you have dreams of being special. Some of you have dreams of being a specialist. The hurdle to that dream is the nightmare of the specialist exam.

We are here to help you add bunny ears and fuzzy slippers to that nightmare so you can accomplish your specialist dreams! Also: If you don’t care about becoming a specialist, our hope is to raise our collective abilities as family lawyers with this ongoing series.

Here’s the format:

1. We will post a number of multiple choice questions related to a monthly family law theme. These will be “specialist-level” questions. We will also give you the answers!
2. We will post a specialist-level fact pattern. Do your best to answer it, either in your head or on paper. Please make it electronic paper and save some trees. We will then post the answers.
3. In the next blog post, we’ll show you the anonymous results of the multiple choice section, if we get enough people to respond.

Lather, rinse, change topics, and repeat forever!

With that intro, let’s delve into the first month’s theme of divorce, marriage, annulment and bigamy. The multiple choice questions and the answers to the essay are in this link.

Answer the following:

• Juma and Nikki are married for over 10 years. They decide their relationship is no longer working. Nikki filed a Complaint for Divorce from Bed and Board in January. The parties continued to live together. Juma filed a Domestic Violence action in March, which was granted by the court. The court found that the parties were married.
• In March, Juma also filed an Answer & Counterclaims requesting DBB, Equitable Distribution and other issues. Both parties in their pleadings alleged that there was a valid marriage.
• Then, one year later in January, Juma filed an action for annulment alleging the marriage was bigamous. Juma alleged Nikki had married Khalil over 12 years earlier and that Nikki’s first marriage had not been dissolved by marriage or death.
• Nikki filed a response admitting participation in a ceremony and that no annulment or divorce had been obtained, and that Khalil was still alive. However, Nikki also stated this ceremony was completed by someone not authorized to perform a marriage ceremony, nor was there a marriage license, and therefore this first marriage was not an “actual” marriage. The “ceremony” was performed by a friend of Khalil’s who was in the construction industry. Nikki stated her intention was only to obtain a religious union. After the ceremony, Nikki and Khalil did have a wedding reception and honeymoon. However, they never consummated the marriage.
• Later, Nikki and Khalil engaged in a religious divorce through their mosque, but otherwise no court proceedings were filed.

So, is Ricky Bobby right that “if you’re not first, you’re last?”

But seriously, is Juma and Nikki’s marriage valid, void, or something else? (Hint, don’t just say the answer, but explain it – otherwise “0” points)

We already gave you the link for the multiple choice and the answer to the essay above, but click here in case you missed it.

Let’s see how you all do!

Lynn and Ketan