Coleman v. Romano

908 A.2d 254, 388 N.J. Super. 342, 2006 N.J. Super. LEXIS 281
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedApril 19, 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 908 A.2d 254 (Coleman v. Romano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coleman v. Romano, 908 A.2d 254, 388 N.J. Super. 342, 2006 N.J. Super. LEXIS 281 (N.J. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OSTRER, J.S.C.

This is the court’s decision, after an evidentiary hearing, on defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs domestic violence complaint for lack of jurisdiction. The motion requires the court to determine whether the plaintiff Katherine Coleman, and her adult daughter, defendant Katherine Romano, are “former household members” under the statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:25-19(d), notwithstanding that they have not lived in the same house for almost thirty years. Based on their continuing, entangled relationship, the court finds that they are “former household members.”

Procedural History.

A resident of Mercer County, Ms. Coleman filed her domestic violence complaint November 15, 2005, after an incident that occurred in Bordentown Township on November 5, 2005. In her complaint, Coleman alleged that her daughter punched and kicked her, pushed her to the floor, and fractured some of her ribs. She also alleged that on October 13, 2005, Romano slapped her. A temporary restraining order was entered and a hearing was scheduled for November 29, 2005. The court adjourned the hearing to January 24, 2006, at defense counsel’s request, maintaining all restraints. On January 24, 2006, the court granted a second adjournment at plaintiffs counsel’s request and directed staff to relist the case on the next available date. The case was then scheduled for trial again on April 4,2006.

At the outset of the hearing, defendant moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that the parties were not former household members. The court heard argument and determined that an evidentiary hearing was required to resolve disputes over jurisdictional facts. The court heard testimony from the two parties.

Facts.

The court finds the following facts by a preponderance of the evidence:

[346]*346 The Mother and Daughter

Ms. Coleman is sixty-eight years old. She lives in her own apartment in Mercer County. However, she spends roughly five days and nights a week with Manuel Lopez, who lives in Borden-town. Mr. Lopez and Ms. Coleman had a child, Debbie, forty-five years ago. They have maintained a relationship ever since, although Coleman obtained her own place about eighteen years ago. She testified that Lopez needed assistance in tasks of daily living and that she visited him, and stayed overnight, five days a week to help care for him. Their relationship is now a platonic one.

Romano is the oldest of Coleman’s three daughters. Lopez is not her father, but she considers him her “step-father.” She is a licensed practical nurse. She last lived in the same household with Coleman in 1977, before Romano married. She now lives in Hamilton Township with her second husband. Romano has a daughter Kristin, who gave birth to a son, Ian, in August 2005. Kristin lives with Ian’s father, Andrew.

The Relationship Pre-200%

Coleman and Romano had a distant relationship after Romano left the family household in 1977. Romano did not even consistently share major holidays or birthdays or other special occasions with her mother.

Romano’s first marriage of almost twenty years was marked by domestic violence. Romano ultimately left her first husband because of abuse. After she left the marital home, she spent a few days with Lopez. By then, Lopez was living separately from Coleman. Romano then moved in with one of her sisters. Romano’s mother did not provide her shelter.

After the divorce, Romano moved several times. From the late 1990s to 2004, the mother and daughter communicated very little. They continued to celebrate holidays separately. They never shared the same household. Romano remarried in 2002. She invited her mother to the wedding, but her mother declined to attend. Coleman still has not met her daughter’s second husband.

[347]*347 Coleman Breaks Her Hip

Then, in 2004, Coleman broke her hip. On the way to surgery, she called Romano to ask for help. Romano responded by visiting her in the hospital. She was the only one of Coleman’s daughters to do so; reflecting an estranged relationship between Coleman and all her children. The reasons for this estrangement were not made clear. After the surgery and a stay at a rehabilitation center, Romano helped Coleman again. Although Romano did not stay with her mother overnight, she sometimes stopped by to cook meals or to bring medicine.

Romano’s Daughter Moves In With Lopez.

Romano’s twenty-five-year-old daughter Kristin gave birth to a boy, Ian, in August 2005. (Coleman testified erroneously that the child’s name was Aaron.) Kristin, Ian, and Ian’s father Andrew needed to relocate from their residence in New Egypt Romano and Coleman each spoke to Lopez and persuaded him to allow the three to move into his single family house. According to their agreement, the three would live rent-free in the house’s attic, which they were to clean out and upgrade. They had their own half-bathroom. In return for housing, Kristin agreed to cook and otherwise help Lopez with indoor chores, and her boyfriend agreed to keep up the yard and undertake other outdoor chores.

Financial Relationship.

The parties presented evidence regarding the nature of their financial relationship. They disputed the extent to which Coleman loaned or gifted money to her daughter over the years. The court finds that Coleman did provide some financial assistance to her daughter, including some loans. Romano was confronted with a document with her signature reflecting financial support from her mother of $1000.

In 2005, Romano informed her mother that she intended to move to Florida with her husband. She and her husband were going to buy a house that had yet to be built. Coleman transferred $15,000 to her daughter. The parties disputed the purpose [348]*348and form of the transfer. Romano testified that it was a gift. She alleged that her mother stated that she was pleased to see that her daughter was finally happy, and that she wanted her daughter to have the use of the money now, as opposed to after Coleman passed. Coleman, by contrast, explained that she paid the $15,000 to her daughter in return for a promise that she could stay at the house whenever she visited and that, when she was ready, she could move down and stay with her daughter. Both parties agreed that they designated a room on the floor plans of the new house for Coleman.

The court is persuaded that Coleman gave the $15,000 to her daughter with the expectation that she would be able to live in the house whenever she visited. While the court is not persuaded that the $15,000 was payment in full for permanent residence there, the court finds that both parties anticipated Coleman’s regular and extended visits. A room was designated for her. This reflected a definite warming of the relationship between the mother and daughter. It also reflected an intention that Coleman would, at least on a temporary basis, share Romano’s household in the future.

Kristin’s Stay With Lopez Leads to Domestic Violence Complaint.

Romano stopped by every three or four days at Lopez’s house to see her daughter Kristin and her grandson Ian. However, despite the warming of Romano’s relationship with her mother, she did not stop to share a meal or socialize with Coleman. Rather, she would stop by, pick up Kristin and the child, and go off shopping or some other activity.

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Bluebook (online)
908 A.2d 254, 388 N.J. Super. 342, 2006 N.J. Super. LEXIS 281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-romano-njsuperctappdiv-2006.