Family and Divorce Law
Family law is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relationships, such as divorce, child custody and adoption. Some family law attorneys even specialize in paternity, emancipation, or other matters such as domestic violence.
Similar to other laws, Family Law changes depending on the state in which you reside. In case of divorce, for instance, many states view assets acquired during a marriage as community property. Therefore, each party is entitled to an equal (50/50) distribution of assets although other factors such as prenuptial agreements can still affect the outcome of the settlement.
Read our blogs and news for more information on the latest domestic issues.
- Top 5 Common Income Sources in Complex Child Support Casesby Jessica Labella Kitain on January 23, 2025 at 3:20 pm
Income from all sources is considered when calculating a monthly child support amount under the Pennsylvania Support Guidelines. Some child support cases are complex because a party has different sources of income beyond W-2 wages. Complex support cases require an analysis of all forms of income and may require an expert to provide an analysis... Continue Reading
- Top 5 Tips to Prepare for Your Initial Meeting with an Attorney About Your Divorceby Jessica Labella Kitain on May 21, 2024 at 3:47 pm
Before you meet with an attorney for the first time to discuss your divorce or the possibility of a divorce, you should prepare for the meeting in advance to maximize your time with the attorney. Here are five tips to help you prepare for that initial meeting: Continue Reading
- PA. Supreme Court Affirms that “Contractual Expectancies” Are Gifts & Non Marital Propertyby Fox Rothschild LLP on August 16, 2022 at 9:44 pm
Those of us from large firms sometimes read opinions where solo practitioners take a shot at an issue and force us to take notice. The facts in this Bucks County case litigated by a solo practitioner against a two lawyer firm are easy. Woman has a child in 1987. Woman and man marry in 1990.... Continue Reading
- FEAR, MONEY & MARKETS: As if Covid Isn’t Enoughby Fox Rothschild LLP on June 7, 2022 at 1:30 am
People often ask divorce lawyers how they do it. My stock answer is that it’s like any other financial transaction, except that the transaction is wrapped in layers and layers of emotion. Usually, that emotion has to do with the relationship and the breach of “trust.” But in markets like the current one, emotions related... Continue Reading
- RESPONDING TO THE DIVORCE WHERE ONE SPOUSE IS READY TO “BURN DOWN THE (FINANCIAL) HOUSE.”by Fox Rothschild LLP on June 3, 2022 at 4:44 pm
Extreme times produce irrational responses. A day ago, an unhappy orthopedic patient in Oklahoma decided it was time to kill his surgeon. He took three other lives as well as these people got “in his way.” We are seeing this kind of irrational and largely self destructive conduct in the domestic world was well.... Continue Reading
- Don’t Forget, it’s the Economy Stupid! Aunt Fannie Mae Says the Housing Boom Seems Overby Fox Rothschild LLP on May 24, 2022 at 9:17 pm
It’s not actually Aunt Fannie but her Chief Economist Doug Duncan who has concluded today that the party ended in March as interest rates spiked 200 basis points since January 1. Fannie Mae revised new homes sales for March down to 709,000 from an earlier estimate of 763,000. The numbers for April also reflect a... Continue Reading
- DIVORCE: THE NEW ESTATE PLANNING TOOL?by Fox Rothschild LLP on May 17, 2022 at 1:52 pm
This morning (5/17) presented an article by Michael Waters in the on-line edition of The Atlantic noting that only about half of Americans die with a will (i.e., testamentary instrument) and suggesting that many of the state laws that profess to divide assets where there isn’t a will are antiquated. That may be a... Continue Reading
- SHOULD YOU CONVERT YOUR IRA/401K TO AN ANNUITY?by Fox Rothschild LLP on May 12, 2022 at 7:44 pm
This is an odd topic for a family law blog until I started to think about. Today’s on line Marketwatch website featured an article by Chris Farrell about whether retirees should consider rolling assets from defined contribution products into annuities. The law allows you to do so without the transaction being a taxable event at... Continue Reading
- IS CONTINGENT DEBT SUBJECT TO DISTRIBUTION? A Student Loan Guaranty Needs to be Addressed in Divorceby Fox Rothschild LLP on May 2, 2022 at 2:22 pm
A panel decision issued April 27, 2022 takes on an issue heretofore undecided in Pennsylvania but an issue of enormous consequence to many marital estates; the matter of student debt. Massar v. Massar involves a 20 year marriage that produced two children ages 23 and 19. During the marriage the eldest child attended Bloomsburg and... Continue Reading
- Divorce Financing Encounters A Turbulent Real Estate Marketby Fox Rothschild LLP on April 4, 2022 at 6:54 pm
At the end of the day, divorce is a financial transaction wrapped in complex human emotions. Part of the divorce lawyer’s mission is to try to gently unwrap the emotion so that each party can walk away from a failed relationship with assets that make sense. Custody of children is the most difficult part of... Continue Reading
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