A lot of clients come to me with the overall question of “What am I entitled to?” In most cases, they mean “What can I expect the financial outcome to be if I get divorced?” and I can appreciate their anxiety about the possible outcome. I like to emphasize that the ultimate outcome of their divorce will be 1) a piece of paper from the court declaring that they are no longer married; 2) a division of their marital assets with their spouse; 3) a resolution of their income and expense situations so they know how they’ll meet their expenses going forward; and 4) if they have children, some schedule for their children to share time with both parents.
The big question is how you will get to that resolution. I like to tell clients that they are entitled to engage in a respectful, private decision-making process in which the spouses maintain control over the ultimate outcome of their divorce. There are several processes available by which that can be accomplished, including mediation and the collaborative law process. It’s a matter of how both spouses choose to engage in the divorce process.
If spouses choose to use the court process, I can and will explain how the PA Divorce Code instructs courts to divide marital assets, make alimony determinations, decide when to enter a divorce decree and all the other issues that go along with getting divorced. I can and will explain how the Domestic Relations office calculates child support, spousal support and alimony pendente lite. I can and will explain how the PA Custody Act instructs courts to decide the issues of legal and physical custody for children. I will also advise clients that it’s never too late to make these decisions themselves instead of having a third party make the decisions for their family.
I’m never able to give clients a simple answer to this question because every individual’s situation is different. I can always give clients a “ballpark” estimate of how I expect their situation to resolve, but I emphasize that I would prefer to work with them to determine their own destiny instead of having someone else make that determination.