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Family Law

Pennsylvania Family Law

Covers alimony, custody, divorce, equitable distribution, and support and offer useful tips.
By Fox Rothschild

Post Frequency: 1.7/day

Last Entry: March 25, 2011 at 15:54:01

STOCK OPTION DEVELOPMENTS

Posted on March 26, 2009
Over the past twenty years the landscape of executive compensation has changed markedly. One new feature is the appearance of executive stock options as a form of compensation. Stock options are a device by which key employees are granted the right to purchase shares of stock at a given price...

A TEST OF CHARACTER AND A SAVINGS IN COST

Posted on March 24, 2009
The purpose of a blog is not to recount war stories. But war stories can be illustrative. We represent a client whose wife is a homemaker. She has the skill set to seek employment as a teacher but, for a variety of reasons, some reasonable, some not, she has not sought employment...

A REMINDER THAT THE WORLD OF BANKRUPTCY HAS CHANGED

Posted on March 13, 2009
Attorneys in our firm recently taught a seminar on the preparation of marital settlement agreements. The seminar touched upon the subject of bankruptcy and its effect upon obligations undertaken as part of a divorce settlement. We have noted also that in reviewing property settlement agreements prepared by our colleagues at the bar, many have not become familiar with the changes brought about in this area by the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act...

HOW MANY ARE TOO MANY?

Posted on March 13, 2009
One of the most highly publicized stories this year concerns the mother who gave birth to octuplets after in vitro fertilization and implantation. She already had six other children which were conceived in the same way. Legal, medical and social issues were raised by reporters and commentators...

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WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Posted on March 10, 2009
Do I stay or do I go? This is not an easy question to answer. If you are contemplating a divorce and your spouse says 'If you leave, I will bury you'; or 'If you continue to see her, you will never see your children again'. What do you do? Are these reasons or statements enough to cause you to remain in the marriage; or, do they have the opposite effect making you say to yourself 'I better leave now because it's now or never'...

PRE-DIVORCE PLANNING

Posted on March 06, 2009
For those contemplating divorce, pre-divorce planning is essential especially in these difficult economic times. Before meeting with a lawyer, the first issue is 'How do I select one?' Talking to friends who have gone through the process is an excellent start as well as checking out lawyers by reputation...

THE WAIT IS OVER:EXPEDITED APPEALS PROCESS FOR CASES INVOLVING CHILDREN

Posted on March 03, 2009

WHEN IT COMES TO ERISA, FOLLOW THE RULES

Posted on February 23, 2009
It is a common scenario. When a couple divorces, one or both spouses may have a retirement plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The most common ERISA retirement plan is the 401(k). As with other assets, those ERISA retirement plans must be divided and/or distributed between the spouses...

CHILD CUSTODY AND PENNSYLVANIA INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Posted on February 23, 2009
One residual effect of a divorce action is that a child may have to change schools and interrupt a comfortable and reliable routine and schedule which likely includes their participation in sports and extracurricular activities. And though a majority of parents would prefer their children to remain in their current school and school district, there are times when it is a necessity, either as a product of a new custodial arrangement or parental relocation...

Innocent Spouse Relief - New Form has Traps for the Unwary

Posted on February 11, 2009
In a recent blog we wrote about the liability that attaches to filing a joint tax return. It is an important issue to consider. But there can be relief from joint liability if one qualifies as an ”innocent spouse”, a term defined by the Internal Revenue Code...

STARTING A FAMILY, PART II

Posted on February 05, 2009
Last month, I blogged about starting a family the old fashioned way in the face of infertility and/or other impediments. Adoption, whether domestic (US) or foreign, is the most popular way of starting a family when biology fails us. As technology grows, Assisted Conception has grown to be a viable option...

FOR LOVE OR MONEY

Posted on February 03, 2009
As practitioners we advise clients that if they cohabit after they have been divorced they will most likely not receive alimony. 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 3706 provides that, “no Petitioner is entitled to receive an award of alimony where the Petitioner, subsequent to the divorce pursuant to which alimony is being sought, has entered into cohabitation with a person of the opposite sex who is not a member of the family of the Petitioner within the degrees of consanguinity...

KID INTERVIEWS IN CHILD CUSTODY PROCEEDINGS

Posted on January 21, 2009
It is fairly common for clients to want to build a custody proceeding around the fact that a son or daughter has enunciated a preference toward one parent or the other. A fairly common question posed to attorneys is: How old does my child have to be before he or she decides with whom to live? The answer does not involve any bright line test...

PROPERTY SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SIGN UP FOR

Posted on January 19, 2009
Most of us do not spend our spare time reviewing recent amendments to the US Bankruptcy Code. But if you are contemplating or going through a divorce a bit of attention is warranted because the 2005 amendments to the law change the landscape of what occurs when bad times come about...

THE BERNARD MADOFF INVESTMENT CLUB

Posted on January 09, 2009
In case you are one of those driven under a rock by the economic news of the past few months, you may have missed the latest news. One of Wall Street’s most prominent investment advisers appears to have walked off with $50 billion dollars in what may qualify as the largest Ponzi scheme in world history...

"I WANT YOU TO SHOW HOW AWFUL SHE IS"

Posted on January 08, 2009
Divorce lies at the confluence of Character and Money; two streets that don’t intersect snugly. Time and again, as lawyers we are asked to “expose” the character of the other spouse so the Court may fully appreciate what a lowlife you chose as your life partner...

ADOPTION IN PENNSYLVANIA

Posted on January 08, 2009
I frequently blog about custody issues. However, at the start of the new year, I thought it apt to blog about beginnings, especially beginning a family. Many people want a child to raise and love. That desire transcends race, age, marital status and gender issues...

SO WHY IS IT NOT 50/50?

Posted on December 16, 2008
At most initial interviews we listen to what clients tell us to be the history of the marriage and the asset pool we are addressing and attempt to predict an equitable distribution result. Sometimes our predictions are very accurate; sometimes they are not...

SO WHY IS IT NOT 50/50?

Posted on December 16, 2008
pspan style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%"At most initial interviews we listen to what clients tell us to be the history of the marriage and the asset pool we are addressing and attempt to predict an equitable distribution result. nbsp;Sometimes our predictions are very accurate; sometimes they are not...

DID THE "INCREASE IN VALUE" CASE JUST SINK INTO THE SWAMP?

Posted on December 11, 2008
We are litigating several cases currently where much of the value that is subject to equitable distribution comes from an increase in the value of assets that were in the hands of one spouse prior to marriage or gifted to one spouse only during the marriage...

DIVORCE 101: HOW TO SAVE LEGAL FEES & HOW TO WASTE YOUR OWN TIME

Posted on December 09, 2008
Lawyers have not been well-regarded since the days before Shakespeare suggested that we should all be executed. The lament has been the same; we do too little, charge too much. We foment dispute. But, as much as the American public ranks lawyers right down there with Congressmen and carjackers when it comes to popularity, the short of it is that we have more lawyers than ever before and we are told that demand is projected to continue to increase in the years ahead...

MERRY ????? HAPPY????? HOLIDAY????

Posted on December 09, 2008
I handle a lot of custody matters. At this time of year, families where the parents and/or grandparents are not living together have similar and stressful issues. Everyone wants their child’s holiday to be a happy and memorable one. After 2 decades of working with children and families and after consulting with child psychologists about what children need, I’ve learned a few things that might be helpful for you and your children...

NOW YOU CAN ESTIMATE CHILD SUPPORT IN YOUR OWN HOME

Posted on December 04, 2008
No need to drive to hearings or hire high priced lawyers. If you google PA Child Support Home Page or go to www.childsupport.state.pa.us you will travel to a website that allows you to calculate the amount of support due using Pennsylvania’s guidelines...

TRUSTING THE ESTATE PLAN: HOW TRUSTS WORK WELL FOR THE HAPPILY MARRIED BUT CONFUSE THE RIGHTS OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT.

Posted on November 17, 2008
All married couples should have an estate plan. For those with special needs or large estates estate planning often involves the creation of trusts. Trusts are a device by which the owner of property conveys it to others to hold for a defined purpose...

"IS IT TRUE THAT I WILL BE DIVORCED 90 DAYS AFTER I FILE?" and "WHAT'S A LEGAL SEPARATION?"

Posted on November 13, 2008
Ask any divorce lawyer in Pennsylvania to specify the two most common questions he or she might encounter in an initial interview and the answer will inevitably include one or both of the questions recited in the title. The second question is easy to answer...

MORTGAGE DEVIATION IN SUPPORT

Posted on November 06, 2008
We have had support guidelines in Pennsylvania since 1984. The effort was part of a federal initiative to see that all families with similar levels of income paid comparable child support. A few years ago the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania modified the rules to give recognition to the fact that home mortgages represented a disproportionate amount of household expenses by creating what is called a high mortgage adjustment...

WHAT TO TELL YOUR CUSTODY LAWYER

Posted on November 03, 2008
There is nothing worse than being in a legal battle regarding who gets to see and care for your child(ren). Usually the battle is with the other parent, but sometimes it is with a grandparent or other family member, or a local child welfare agency...

NOT THROUGH GOOD TIMES, BUT THROUGH BAD

Posted on November 03, 2008
While anecdotal reports seem to indicate that divorce is on the rise because of the current economic situation, Fresno County, California and Comanche County, Oklahoma are both reporting a substantial drop in the number of divorce filings this year. According to data published by the county, Miami-Dade County, in Florida, was experiencing an eighteen percent drop in divorce filings in the first half of this year as compared to 2007...

JUST HOW DO TRIALS WORK?

Posted on October 29, 2008
Having been through a spate of trials and hearings over the past few months, it has come to our attention that many clients have little familiarity with how courtrooms actually work. Ironically lawyers assume that clients know how trials work. Litigation is what we do every day...

DO I NEED A BUSINESS APPRAISER? AND JUST WHAT IS A FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT?

Posted on October 06, 2008
Many of our clients either own their own businesses or are married to people who do. In divorce the value of the business is a material aspect of equitable distribution and needs to be considered both for the income it produces and the value the business has...

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