Francine M. Aster, Esq., is a Partner at Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Group. Ms. Aster is a highly accomplished and trusted family law attorney with extensive experience guiding clients. Her practice is exclusively dedicated to matrimonial and family law proceedings, including divorce, domestic violence, child custody, grandparent visitation, child support, alimony, palimony, equitable distribution and complex asset division, adoptions, paternity, prenuptial agreements, mediation, post-judgment enforcement and modification, and all other related family law matters. She is also a New Jersey Court-approved Mediator.

Ms. Aster’s passion for family law is driven by her deep desire to help people in need. As she describes, “Helping people is just my nature; it’s what I am meant to do. Being a family lawyer is what I love as it allows me to help my clients find solutions to their problems.”

To assist her clients in resolving their matters, Ms. Aster takes a hands-on approach, connecting with her clients at a personal level to truly understand their wants and goals. She is accessible and “all in” with her clients, returning phone calls and emails promptly and taking great care to guide her clients with sensitivity to the difficulties they are experiencing. Her calm and steady presence quickly brings her clients peace of mind and restored confidence that better days are ahead.

Francine Aster’s experience in family law is vast and deep, which gives her the unique ability to find creative solutions for her clients, even in high conflict or complex matters. Depending on her client’s needs and the dynamics of the situation, Ms. Aster may recommend negotiation or mediation, or when appropriate, litigation. In every setting, Ms. Aster is her client’s staunchest advocate, driven to protect her client’s rights and secure their future at every step in the process.

Ms. Aster understands her pivotal role in safeguarding her client’s children and is masterful in her knowledge of child custody issues. For years, Ms. Aster has acted as a guardian ad litem (GAL) with the courts, in which she gathers information to help judges determine custody arrangements that are in the best interest of the child. She has also served as a court-appointed parenting coordinator and parenting supervisor, giving her advanced understanding of how co-parents can overcome disputes to prioritize their children’s well-being.

Throughout her career, Francine Aster has been a leader in the New Jersey family law community. She has served and continues to serve as a volunteer attorney with the Matrimonial Early Settlement Panels (ESP) in both Essex and Morris counties, where she offers divorcing parties settlement recommendations and valuable insight into how their assigned judge is likely to rule at trial on their specific issues. As a longtime volunteer with Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ), she educated those people who can’t afford an attorney on the basics of divorce law, child custody and support issues, providing monthly classes at the Essex County courthouse. She has also led numerous Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars, teaching other attorneys about new developments in family law.

Ms. Aster has been honored to serve as Chair of the Essex County Bar Association’s (ECBA) for fifteen (15) years and sits on the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Family Law Executive Committee (FLEC). She was further honored to serve as a Trustee, Secretary, Vice President, President-Elect of ECBA and was ultimately elected ECBA President. In these roles, she worked directly with the judges as well as the Bar, discussing and finding solutions to problems that plagued the system, and acting as the liaison between the bench and the Bar.

Ms. Aster is also proud of her service on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Ethics Committee, where she served on District VC (West Essex) for two terms. She is currently in her second consecutive four-year term. She has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

If all this sounds like Ms. Aster eats, sleeps and breathes family law, it’s because she does, and it’s completely by design. As she is quick to note, “I totally immerse myself in my career, taking every CLE related to family law and attending seminars and Bar events with my colleagues so that I can constantly evolve and hone my craft for my clients, and teaching as well.

Ms. Aster earned her Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall University School of Law and also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seton Hall University.

Ms. Aster is a longtime resident of Essex County and a widow. When she’s not taking care of her clients or researching breaking legal issues, you can find her cooking up a storm in the kitchen, baking goodies, listening to music, dancong and spending time with her family.