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Even before I met you, my child, I knew I loved you.

Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring.” -Truman Capote from Breakfast at Tiffany’s

How does a mother involuntarily terminate her parental rights? A recent case of involuntarily termination of parental rights involves the removal and placement of a child into foster care after the Department of Household Services (DHS) received a report that the child was sexually abused by the father and the mother, suffering from drug addiction and […]

In the State of Pennsylvania, neither parent has a legal obligation to pay for their child’s education. If parents are divorcing, and college imminent, an attorney should counsel his/her client on college expenses. In some cases, it may be worthwhile for divorcing spouses to reach an agreement concerning college education in addition to a child […]

J.P.D. v. W.E.D., PICS Case No. 15-0740 (PA.Super. May 5,2015) Ford Elliot, J. In J.P.D. v. W.E.B., father W.E.B. appealed from an order of the trial court ordering him to pay $1,365 per month to mother, J.P.D. for the support for their two children. Father filed a petition seeking modification of the child support order […]

The issues with parental relocation in the State of New Jersey involve the tension between a custodial parent’s need or desire to relocate and the other parent’s right to maintain a meaningful relationship with his or her child. Baures v. Lewis, 167 N.J. 91 (2001) set the precedent for parental relocation in the State of […]

Victims of sexual violence and intimidation desire safety and protection from future interactions with their offender and, now, as of July 1, 2015, Pennsylvania has become the 34th state to establish protection for sexual-assault victims. The Protection of Victims of Sexual Violence or Intimidation Act is modeled closely after the Protection from Abuse Act, but […]

Social Security is extremely important to our economic security. Social Security stands as one of the most complex areas in financial planning (let alone divorce planning), but most people overlook it. For divorcing couples, if proper planning is not done, the result could be economically detrimental. The purpose of this guide is to address some […]

In America, the backbone of  our adversarial system is a jury trial. But as family law practitioners, we are often heard by judges sitting without a jury. Some Judges presiding at nonjury trials often circumvent the rules of evidence.  Judges often admit evidence indiscriminately, ruling on weight and relevance only after all the facts of […]

Many State Courts address the filing of income tax returns in divorce situations. Trial Courts have discretionary authority to compel parties in divorce proceedings to file joint tax returns. However, similar authority does no exist with respect to filing gift tax returns. Each person has a federal tax exemption for lifelong gifts and estate transfers […]