Child Custody Lawyer in Hackensack, NJ

Protecting your parental rights and your child’s future

Protecting Your Parenting Rights, Steps From the Bergen County Family Division

When custody is on the table, a child custody lawyer in Hackensack does far more than file paperwork. At Cowen & Jacobs, a women-owned family law firm at Court Plaza South on Main Street, we represent parents in custody and parenting time matters heard at the Bergen County Justice Center, a short walk from our office.

New Jersey decides custody on one standard: the best interests of the child. That standard applies whether you are married, divorcing, or were never married, and our partners have spent more than 35 years arguing it in this county’s family courts. Sit down with an attorney for a free, confidential consultation and find out exactly where you stand.

Testimonials from Past Clients

How a Custody Attorney Strengthens Your Position

Family Part judges carry the ultimate responsibility for deciding what custody and parenting time arrangement serves a child’s best interests. Our job is to make sure the judge sees your side clearly, supported by evidence rather than assertion.
We advise you on the specific factors a Bergen County judge weighs and how to present your circumstances against them. Then we work with you to develop the proof that supports the arrangement you are seeking.
When a case calls for it, we ask the court to order a best interests evaluation by a forensic psychologist. The court may also appoint a guardian ad litem to investigate and make a recommendation to the judge handling your matter.
Family Part judges favor settlement, because protracted litigation takes a real toll on a child. We resolve most custody disputes through negotiation, and we are fully prepared to try your case or defend your position on appeal when settlement is not on the table.

How Your Custody Case Moves Through the Bergen County Family Division

Custody matters follow a defined path in this county. Knowing the sequence removes some of the uncertainty and helps you make decisions at each stage.

Free consultation and honest assessment. We listen to your situation, explain the standard the court applies, and tell you candidly what outcome is realistic.
Filing. If you are married, custody is decided inside your divorce case, so our divorce lawyers in Hackensack raise it in the complaint and in the other parent’s answer and counterclaim. Unmarried parents file a different form of complaint in the Family Part.
Custody and parenting time mediation. The Family Division refers contested custody matters to mediation before a judge hears them. We prepare you for those sessions so you walk in knowing your priorities and your limits.
Evaluation, when the case requires it. Where the dispute turns on a parent’s fitness or a child’s specific needs, we move for a best interests evaluation or the appointment of a guardian ad litem.
Settlement and parenting plan. An agreed plan is incorporated into a Judgment of Divorce, or into a Consent Order for unmarried parents. A Family Part judge does not approve or disapprove your settlement, so the drafting has to be right the first time.
Trial. Absent agreement, your Family Part judge determines the Parent of Primary Residence and sets a parenting plan. We present testimony, evidence, and expert findings on your behalf.
Modification and enforcement. Orders can be revisited when circumstances change substantially, and enforced when the other parent will not comply. We handle both, including make-up parenting time and applications in aid of litigant’s rights.

You can settle and step off this path at any point. Our job is to reach the right arrangement as efficiently as your case allows.

Complex Custody Disputes We Resolve

Custody is rarely straightforward in a county where parents commute across the Hudson, change towns mid-case, and work schedules no standard parenting plan anticipates. We have negotiated, litigated, and appealed matters involving:

Frequent work travel, overseas assignments, or active military duty
Manhattan commutes that do not fit a conventional weekday schedule, whether you live here or closer to the bridge in Fort Lee
Substance abuse, criminal history, or allegations that put a parent’s fitness in question
Parents in different states, including New York, and whether New Jersey keeps jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
Removing a child from the United States, or recovering one taken out of New Jersey
Relocation within the county, where a move from Hackensack to Ridgewood reshapes an existing parenting schedule
Grandparents and step-parents seeking a role in a custody arrangement

New Jersey now treats fathers and mothers on equal footing in most circumstances. What governs is the child’s age and needs, not the parent’s gender, and we have represented many fathers who became the Parent of Primary Residence.

Understanding New Jersey Custody Law

The vocabulary matters, because these terms carry specific legal consequences in your parenting plan and in your finances.

Legal Custody

Whether married or unmarried, both biological parents share legal custody: the right to make major decisions on schooling and medical care. Most divorced and separated parents keep sharing it, and consistent co-parenting free from conflict is always considered to be in a child's best interests.

Physical Custody

Unless the parties agree to 50/50 shared physical custody or the court orders it, one parent is designated the Parent of Primary Residence (PPR) and the other the Parent of Alternate Residence (PAR). The children live with the PPR most of the time.

The number of overnights is a factor in calculating the child support the PAR pays the PPR. Either way, both parents continue to hold equally shared legal custody, also called joint legal custody.

Sole Custody

Sole legal and physical custody is awarded in relatively rare cases. It requires the court to find the other parent unfit, or unable or unwilling to co-parent in the child's best interests.

Parenting Plan

A child's best interests almost always include a close relationship with each parent, so even where one parent holds sole custody, the plan should give the child time alone with each of them.
Detailed plans prevent ambiguity and post-judgment conflict. A workable plan for families in Hackensack, Montvale, and surrounding towns generally sets out at least:

• Ordinary parenting time: the days and overnights the child spends with each parent each week.
• Holidays and special days: who has the child for Halloween, Thanksgiving, religious holidays, and legal holidays, usually alternating yearly. Mother's Day is always with the mother and Father's Day with the father. These days preempt ordinary parenting time and vacation time.
• Vacation time: both parents are encouraged to take vacation time with the child.

When DCP&P Becomes Involved

Your right to parent is protected by the United States Constitution. You can end it voluntarily by consenting to your child’s adoption, or it can be terminated without your consent by the Division of Child Protection & Permanency (DCP&P, formerly DYFS) in extraordinary circumstances.

Before a judge terminates parental rights in a DCP&P case, the Division must file a complaint and prove at trial that you are unfit. Because parenting is a constitutional right, a parent found indigent is entitled to counsel paid for by the state. That right also covers a biological parent contesting a private adoption, where the judge weighs a different set of factors.

Once an adoption is finalized, your right to parent ends permanently. We have more than 35 years of experience in DCP&P matters, adoptions, and contested adoptions, and we handle the related domestic violence proceedings when a custody dispute involves abuse allegations or a restraining order.

Why Bergen County Parents Trust Cowen & Jacobs

Cowen & Jacobs is a women-owned firm at Court Plaza South, a short walk from the Justice Center where your custody case will be decided. What that means for you:

35+ years before this bench. Both partners were admitted in the early 1980s and have argued custody in front of the same Bergen County Family Division judges who will hear your case.
Settlement first, litigation when it counts. As trained mediators and arbitrators, we resolve most custody disputes without a contested trial, sparing your child the damage protracted litigation causes.
A named partner on your case. You work with Barbara or Sara from the first meeting to resolution, reachable by phone, email, and text, never handed to junior staff.
The right experts when a case demands them. We bring in forensic psychologists and child specialists where fitness, alienation, or a child’s specific needs are genuinely in dispute.
Local reach across the county. We represent parents from Hackensack, Teaneck, Englewood, Paramus, and towns as far north as Allendale, and we know how commutes between them affect a workable schedule.

Questions Hackensack Parents Ask About Custody

Where will my custody case actually be heard?

At the Family Division of the Bergen County Justice Center on Main Street in Hackensack. We file and appear there regularly, so we know the staff, the procedures, and the local scheduling realities.

Do I have to go through mediation before a judge decides custody?

In most contested cases, yes. The Family Division refers custody and parenting time disputes to mediation before scheduling a hearing, and we prepare you for those sessions so the time is used well.

Can I get an emergency custody order over a weekend?

If your child faces immediate and irreparable harm, we file an Order to Show Cause, also called an Application for Emergent Relief. After court hours, your local police department can reach an on-call Bergen County judge. This is an extraordinary remedy and it is rarely granted.

What happens if my child's other parent moves to New York?

A move across the Hudson raises jurisdiction questions under the UCCJEA, and it is common here. We determine whether New Jersey keeps jurisdiction and adjust the parenting plan around the new commute before it becomes a compliance problem.

How long does a contested custody case take in Bergen County?

Uncontested arrangements can be resolved in a matter of weeks. Contested matters involving an evaluation or a relocation dispute run considerably longer, whether you are in Hackensack or Teaneck. We give you a realistic timeline for your specific case at the consultation.

Contact Our Legal Team Today

Call or Fill Out The Form Below to Schedule Your Consultation

Are you ready to get started on your case with a consultation? With over 35 years of experience, our attorneys are ready to fight for you. Reach out to us today to see what Cowen & Jacobs can do for you.

NOTICE: The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.

Areas We Serve

Based in Hackensack, NJ, we are happy to serve clients across the state, including the following areas:

Alpine
Clifton
Englewood Cliffs
Fort Lee
Franklin Lakes
Garfield
Ho-Ho-Kus
Paramus
Teaneck
Saddle River
Upper Saddle River

Other Types of Family Law We Practice

The Attorneys Handling Your Custody Case

You will know who is representing you before you retain us, and that person stays on your case from the consultation through resolution.

Barbara E. Cowen

Barbara has represented parents in Bergen County since 1981 and leads the firm’s family law practice. She began her career clerking for the Hon. Arthur Minuskin in the New Jersey Superior Court, Bergen County, which gave her an inside view of how local judges weigh the best interests factors. She holds a J.D. cum laude from Pace University School of Law and serves on the Bergen County Ethics Committee.

Sara Jacobs

Sara brings the firm’s dispute resolution depth to custody matters better settled than tried. She arbitrated at the Superior Court in Bergen County for fourteen years and co-chaired the county’s ADR Committee, so she knows how these disputes actually resolve short of trial. Admitted in 1984, she holds an LL.M. from New York University School of Law and teaches as an adjunct professor.

Your Child's Future Should Not Depend on Guesswork

The hardest part of a custody dispute is not knowing where you will end up: how much time you will have, who decides what, and what your life looks like a year from now. A clear strategy turns that into a plan you can see and steps you can take.

Sit down with Barbara or Sara for a free, confidential consultation and leave knowing exactly where you stand. With 35+ years in the Bergen County family courts behind us, we will tell you honestly what your case looks like.