Last week, the prolific Judge Lawrence R. Jones, J.S.C. shed
some much-needed light on an essential question; namely: can the
court retroactively set an obligor’s child support obligation
to a date earlier than the filing date of an actual motion to
establish child support in the reported case of Kakstys v. Stevens?
According to Judge Jones, the answer is yes. More specifically, the
answer is yes – at least as far back as the filing date of
the complaint for divorce, where the complaint asserts a claim for
child support.
In his carefully reasoned decision, Judge Jones drew an
important distinction between modifications of existing child
support orders as compared to the initial establishment of a child
support order. At first blush, the experienced attorney might react
to the suggestion of applying a child support order retroactively
by insisting that the “anti-retroactivity” statute,
N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.23a, prohibits modifications of child
support retroactive to a
