Montgomery County Family Law Blog

Supervised visitation can be an essential tool to protect a child's well-being in Pennsylvania even while preserving the relationship with a troubled or complicated parent. Most family courts prefer joint custody, which is when both parents share roughly equal time with the children. If this is not possible, regular and extensive visitation can also foster the relationship with the noncustodial parent. In some cases, however, a parent's issues are more serious. There may be allegations of child abuse or domestic violence. Some parents may also be struggling with an addiction or have an untreated mental illness that leaves them unable to care for the child properly.

Supervised visitation can take place in the presence of a professional, like a counselor or social worker, or a designated family member. In the court order for this type of visitation, the family court judge will designate who is responsible for supervising the visits. Depending on the circumstances, visitation may take place in the parent's home or in a neutral location such as a child care center.

When business owners in Pennsylvania consider divorce, they may be particularly concerned about how the end of their marriage will affect the future of their business. After all, the economic effects of a divorce can last long after the emotional and practical concerns are resolved. This can be particularly true for entrepreneurs in smaller family businesses when the company itself is part of shared marital property and produces a significant amount of the couple's joint income. However, there are some things that business owners can keep in mind to help them emerge from the divorce process.

The future of the business can be a major part of the discussion and negotiations over property division. Because Pennsylvania is an equitable distribution state, even a business that is marital property will not necessarily be divided equally in half. At the same time, business owners should plan for how they can retain their business in challenging circumstances. There are several ways that people can handle this issue, including the other spouse taking a larger share of other marital property like retirement funds or real estate. This type of division essentially serves to buy out the other spouse.

Married couples in Pennsylvania who have student loan debt may at a higher risk of getting divorced. The average student loan balance has increased 62% over the past decade to $34,000. Furthermore, the number of people who owe more than $50,000 in student loan debts has also increased significantly.

Those who took out loans to go to school will ideally disclose how much they owe prior to getting married. This can make it possible to create a plan for paying the debt as well as a plan for what happens if the marriage were to end. For instance, if one spouse pays a balance owed by the other spouse, that person could be entitled to reimbursement in the event of a divorce. However, this would only be true if a prenuptial or other type of agreement was reached prior to the wedding or prior to the divorce itself.

Alimony is typically the last issue decided in a Pennsylvania divorce case. For the most part, child custody and support as well as property division are considered greater priorities. Nevertheless, alimony can prove to be a major source of disagreement between former partners. If the parties cannot agree, a judge could step in and make a final order on alimony.

Despite common use of the words interchangeably, alimony and spousal support under Pennsylvania law are different. Legal professionals report that there are actually three distinct awards provided from one party to the other in a divorce -- the period after separation but before the divorce is filed, while the divorce is pending but not finalized and after the divorce is final. The later is properly called alimony. There are a number of factors that are considered in the determination of whether alimony will be awarded, in what amount and for what duration.