Rule 5:7-2.Application Pendente Lite

Last amended September 1, 2025 · Current through September 1, 2026 · Last verified September 8, 2026

In one sentenceRule 5:7-2 requires a completed case information statement with any application for support, counsel fees or costs pendente lite — from both sides — and routes requests for restraints or enforcement to a motion or order to show cause.

Full Text of Rule 5:7-2

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b)

(a) Support Pendente Lite. Applications for support, counsel fees and costs pendente lite, whether made with the complaint or by notice of motion thereafter, shall be accompanied by a completed case information statement in a form prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts pursuant to R. 5:5-2. If this form has previously been submitted, amendments thereto must be filed with the court no later than eight days prior to the motion hearing date. A completed case information statement shall accompany the response to the application pendente lite. If previously submitted, amendments thereto must be filed with the court no later than eight days prior to the hearing date.

(b) Restraints; Contempt; Enforcement. If pendente lite relief is sought, by way of preliminary restraint, to hold a party in contempt or to enforce litigant's rights, the application shall be by motion or order to show cause.

End

Amendment History

New Jersey publishes each rule’s amendment record in a “Note” beneath the rule. It is reproduced verbatim below; a “Source” line names the former rule the current one grew out of, and “R. (1969)” citations refer to the earlier numbering it replaced.

Note: Source-R. (1969) 4:79-3(a), (b). Adopted December 20, 1983, to be effective December 31, 1983; paragraph (a) amended January 10, 1984, to be effective April 1, 1984; paragraph (b) caption and text amended July 21, 2011 to be effective September 1, 2011; paragraph (a) amended July 31, 2025 to be effective September 1, 2025.

Plain-English Summary

Pendente lite relief is what holds a family together financially while the case runs, and the court cannot set it without numbers. So an application for support, counsel fees and costs pendente lite must be accompanied by a completed case information statement in the prescribed form, whether the application comes with the complaint or by later motion. The response must carry one too.

If a statement is already on file, amendments to it must reach the court no later than eight days before the motion hearing date — the same eight-day cut-off on both sides.

Paragraph (b) separates the coercive requests from the financial ones. Where pendente lite relief is sought by way of preliminary restraint, to hold a party in contempt, or to enforce litigant's rights, the application is by motion or order to show cause.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I have to file with a pendente lite support application?

A completed case information statement in the form prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts. The party responding must file one as well.

When are amendments to my case information statement due?

No later than eight days prior to the motion hearing date.

How do I ask for restraints while the divorce is pending?

By motion or order to show cause. That route applies to preliminary restraints, contempt, and enforcement of litigant's rights.

Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the official New Jersey Rules of Court, Part V (N.J. Ct. R. 5:7-2). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified September 8, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: pendente litetemporary supportinterim supporttemporary counsel feessupport during divorce