August 9, 2012

Amount of Support

SUPPORT 11-1 AMOUNT OF SUPPORT 11-1.28 Guidelines/Deviation The wife is a German citizen whose relationship with the husband bore a single child during 2003. The wife married the husband on October 29, 2005. In order to facilitate the wife’s lawful immigration status and permit her to become a permanent resident of the United States, the […]

Partial Custody

CUSTODY 13-4 PARTIAL CUSTODY 13-4.1A Restrictions The record reflects that the trial court imposed restrictions on the father’s periods of partial custody. The trial court ordered that the mother or any other single caregiver was to be present in the area where the father was visiting with the child. Although the fact that the mother […]

August 6, 2012

Termination of Parental Rights Statutory Provisions

TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS 15-7 STATUTORY REQUISITES/PROVISIONS The father sought review of the trial court order that terminated his parental rights to his son pursuant to the Adoption Act, 23 Pa.C.S. § 2511(a)(8) and (b). The trial court found that the child had been removed from his father for a two-year period, far beyond the […]

Custody Relocation Best Interests

Children and Divorce

CUSTODY RELOCATION 13-8.7 Best Interests The mother appealed from the trial court order that denied her petition for relocation and a related request to modify the terms of custody for the parties’ six-year-old son. The recently enacted new Child Custody Act became effective on January 24, 2011. 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 5321–5340. The new act applies […]

August 3, 2012

Procedure Miscellaneous

PROCEDURE 11-8.17 Miscellaneous The mother claimed that the trial court erred when it accepted the father’s physician’s information request form into the record and used its contents to find the father disabled; further, the trial court did not grant her, or her attorney, the opportunity to review the document prior to the trial. In order […]

August 2, 2012

Chase v. Chase

BUCKSCOUNTYLAW REPORTER 527  Chase v. Chase 2012 After the entry of an order modifying an award of alimony and child support, Mother appeals this Court’s Order alleging that Father misrepresented his income and failed to report a change in income, and that a change in the amount of alimony and child support should have been […]

July 31, 2012

Lawsuit Settlement Funds and Equitable Distribution in PA

MARITAL PROPERTY – Tort Claims Focht v. Focht, 32 A.3d 668 (Pa. 2011). The wife sought review of an order from the Superior Court that vacated a trial court’s equitable distribution award in the parties’ divorce action. The trial court had affirmed a special master’s equitable distribution award, based on a determination that proceeds from an accident […]

July 8, 2012

Survivor benefits under a Qualified Domestic Relations Order

2012 BCBA Leonhardt v. Leonhardt [ 85 Bucks Co. L. Rep. ] 580 BUCKS COUNTY LAW REPORTER Husband appeals this Court’s Order holding that the terms of a Marital Settlement Agreement did incorporate the payment of survivor benefits under a Qualified Domestic Relations Order from Husband’s pension in the event that Husband were to predecease Wife. Domestic relations […]

May 24, 2012

Procuring Cause

What is Procuring Cause In simple terms it is a legal term used when it comes to disputing who earns the real estate commission.  We have handled numerous cases which involved Procuring Cause and almost every case was different than the other. The general theory is that the agent who ultimately caused the buyer to purchase […]

May 15, 2012

2012 Equitable Distribution Case, MacDougall v. MacDougall

MacDougall v. MacDougall  2012 BCBA   85 Bucks Co. L. Rep. Wife appeals this Court’s Order denying her petition for contempt alleging that Husband violated the terms of an Equitable Distribution Agreement by failing to pay a portion of his pension’s cost of living allowance increase. Domestic relations – Equitable distribution agreement – Cost of living allowance […]

April 17, 2012

Diamond Engagement Ring

Diamond Engagement Ring Husband gave Wife an heirloom diamond ring as an engagement ring prior to their marriage. Husband was in possession of this ring at the time of the hearing. N.T., 5/31/11, p. 14. Both parties agreed that the value of the ring was approximately $20,000.00. Id.; Husband’s Prehearing Stmt., p. 3. Based on Wife’s credible testimony, we […]

April 7, 2012

First Entry

Today is my first Blog Entry