Federal Tax Law Changes Impact Support
The recent federal tax law changes have a tremendous impact on spousal support, alimony pendente lite (APL) and alimony payments in Pennsylvania. Effective January 1, 2019, those payments are no longer deducted from the paying spouse’s income and added to...[Continue reading]
Separation in PA Changes from Two Years to One Year
Effective December 5, 2016, the PA Divorce Code is modified to require one year of separation, instead of two years, before a spouse can request a no-fault divorce with no economic claims or the appointment of a divorce master to...[Continue reading]
Have You Ever Prepared an Expense Statement?
I can’t cite any statistics, but I can confidently say that based on my experience, very few people have ever prepared a budget or an expense statement. That means for most people, their income comes into their bank account and...[Continue reading]
Co-Parenting 101 – A Helpful Book
I recently read Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households after Divorce, written by Deesha Philyaw and Michael D. Thomas. I wish I had read it earlier, but better late than never. I will recommend that all of...[Continue reading]
Earth Day & Family Law
What could Earth Day and family law matters possibly have in common? I’m going to make some comparisons and you can decide whether they make any sense. Earth Day started in 1970 with the idea of engaging individuals in small...[Continue reading]
Priorities in Divorce
I believe that prioritizing is an important part of decision-making. We must decide what is most important, or most urgent, or what must be done first to effectively move on to other tasks. Without determining the order in which things...[Continue reading]
Why Work to Reach an Agreement?
I can think of a few reasons to focus your time, money and energy on reaching an agreement to resolve your divorce, support, custody or other family law matter or estate administration conflict. The first three reasons are your time,...[Continue reading]
Should I Attend Couples Counseling?
That is not an easy question to answer. Although a great deal of my practice centers around family law, primarily divorce and related financial and personal issues, I don’t like to see people get divorced and don’t encourage them to...[Continue reading]
What is Separation and Why Does it Matter?
Pennsylvania does not have “legal separation” as the term is used in some other states. Separation simply means that spouses are either living in separate physical residences or that one spouse has filed a divorce complaint with the court and...[Continue reading]
Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods
“Alternative” refers to alternatives to litigation (the court process). If you need to resolve a conflict, but don’t want to go through the court process (I advise avoiding court if possible!) then you have alternatives to consider. I strongly recommend...[Continue reading]