Modifying Alimony
While questions and cases about courts modifying alimony payments arise frequently, the Pennsylvania Superior Court found a never-before-answered issue in a case that was decided late last year. The question before the court in Egan v. Egan, 125 A.3d 792 (Pa. Super. 2015) was if the court is permitted to make a change to the […]
Should Spouses Be Expecting Less from Marriage
The study, published this week in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, suggests that there is a sort of “sweet spot,” where the balance between spouses’ expectations for their marriage, and their experience within their marriage, is optimal and the result is a happy and fulfilling marriage. Conversely, posits the study, if spouses enter marriage with […]
Did the Short Sale of your Marital Residence Create a Tax Liability for You?
Did the Short Sale of your Marital Residence Create a Tax Liability for You? When Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act (PATH Act) late in 2015, they included in it an extension of the mortgage debt exclusion that had expired at the end of 2014. That provision was created under the Mortgage […]
Same-Sex Couples in Custody Court
Same-Sex Couples in Custody Court Last month a Utah Judge recused himself from a custody case in which he had previously ordered that a foster child be removed from the home of a lesbian couple who were seeking to adopt the nine-month-old baby after providing her a foster care home for the last three months. […]
Will Your New Spouse’s Income Cause an Increase in Your Child Support Obligation?
Will Your New Spouse’s Income Cause an Increase in Your Child Support Obligation? In a case decided by the Pennsylvania Superior Court in May of this year, the answer was yes. While the facts and circumstances in the Allegheny County case of J.P.D.. vs. W.E.D. are unusual, the court’s ruling is noteworthy in its assessment […]
Beyond Death Do Prenuptial Agreements Part the Assets
Beyond Death Do Prenuptial Agreements Part the Assets The law in Pennsylvania has long been favorable to carefully drafted prenuptial agreements, and particularly so when those agreements include full and complete disclosure of both parties’ assets. That position was reinforced in a recent case in which the Superior Court ruled that the definition and identification […]
When is a Pre or Post-Nuptial Agreement the Best Wedding Gift?
When is a Pre or Post-Nuptial Agreement the Best Wedding Gift? When long-term, same-sex couples finally marry, the best gift they can give to each other may be a pre or post-nuptial agreement. The more cynical and unflattering view of pre and post nuptial agreements is that they represent one or both parties hedging a […]
Immigration and Family Law
At the Intersection of Immigration and Family Law Given the increasing incidence in our practice of cases involving international couples, we took note yesterday when the United States Supreme Court appeared at the intersection of immigration and family law. At least in the case of Fauzia Din, announced yesterday by Justice Scalia, the Court gave […]
Changes to the Practice of Family Law
Changes to the Practice of Family Law The advancement of both information technology and medical science continues to shape the practice of family law, and the future of that practice will likely be far different from its past and much of its present. The increasing presence in the marketplace of Legal Zoom and other purveyors […]
Parenting Style: How free the range? How close the helicopter?
How free the range? How close the helicopter? Prompted by a story gone viral on social media and elsewhere on the Internet out of Silver Spring, Maryland, discussions of what constitutes responsible parenting and when governments ought to involve themselves in it are active in the mainstream press and on main streets throughout the country; […]