Blog
The Postnuptial Agreement: Your Marriage’s New Best Friend
Posted in: General, Premarital & Cohabitation Agreements
A postnuptial agreement is simply a contract between two people who are married. The parties may be heterosexual or same-sex spouses and the agreement may include just about any terms, with a few exceptions, that a couple may desire. While ...
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Love Contracts: Can They Make Relationships Last?
Posted in: General, Premarital & Cohabitation Agreements
What It Is and How It Work A “love contract” is an agreement you make with someone you love to help keep your relationship a loving one. It appeals to those couples who refuse to leave some aspects of their ...
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Stepparent Rights in PA
Posted in: General
When you marry someone who has a biological or adoptive child from a previous relationship, you become a stepparent of that child. This is not a legal parental relationship, however. In order to become a legal parent of your spouse’s ...
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Child Support Orders When Parents Move to Different States
Posted in: General, Spousal & Child Support
How Child Support Works in Pennsylvania Child support is given high priority in Pennsylvania and throughout the country. When one or both parents move from the state in which an initial child support order was entered, the order may still be ...
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Prenuptial Agreements: Why Women Need Them
Posted in: General, Premarital & Cohabitation Agreements
A prenup (also known as a prenuptial, premarital, or antenuptial agreement) is an agreement between two people who are planning to marry. When most of us hear the word “prenup,” we envision a well-to-do man presenting his less wealthy and ...
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PA Custody Arrangement – Child Relocation Rules
Posted in: Custody & Visitation, Divorce, General
Parents with custody of minor children often feel the need or desire to move with their children to another location at some point after a divorce. Whether you are the parent who is about to be left behind or the ...
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Child Custody in PA: Answers to Your Questions
Posted in: Custody & Visitation, Divorce, General
Pennsylvania’s Child Custody law applies to married parents, married but separated parents, and parents who have never been married. The laws may also apply to biological and non-biological parents. For purposes of this blog article, individuals seeking or granted Child ...
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PA Child Support – Your Questions Answered
Posted in: General, Spousal & Child Support
For a divorcing couple with children in Pennsylvania, there are many critical child support questions that need to be answered and understood before there can be any kind of permanent resolution to the financial aspects of how their children will be ...
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Child Custody and Support for Same-sex Couples
Posted in: Civil Unions & Domestic Partnerships, Custody & Visitation, General, Spousal & Child Support
As a same-sex partner, you may file a petition for either child custody or child support even if you are not filing for divorce. You may also do so if you are unmarried, as long as you can establish that ...
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Unmarried Couples Buying a Home: Who Should Be the Owner?
Posted in: Civil Unions & Domestic Partnerships, General, Property Division
For many Americans, purchasing a home will be the largest financial investment of their lives. And while there is always stress involved in such a substantial purchase, the stress is eased to some degree for married couples by the fact ...
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Custody Orders and Bad Parental Behavior
Posted in: Custody & Visitation, General, Spousal & Child Support
One of the mistakes many divorced parents of minor children make is assuming the custody order entered in the course of their divorce will remain in effect until the child reaches the age of majority. As a result, they ...
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The Challenges of Civil Union Dissolution
Posted in: Civil Unions & Domestic Partnerships, General
Four states (Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, and New Jersey) currently grant civil unions. Though the precise definition may vary from state to state, a civil union is generally defined as a legal relationship between two persons of the same sex that ...
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Definition of a Dependent Child as Specified in PA Statute 42
Posted in: Custody & Visitation, General, Grandparent Visitation
Pennsylvania Statute 42, as it relates to juvenile matters, defines a "dependent child" as a child who: (1) is without proper parental care or control, subsistence, education as required by law, or other care or control necessary for his physical, mental, ...
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Emancipation of a Minor: Everything You Need to Know
Posted in: Custody & Visitation, General, Spousal & Child Support
What Is an Emancipated Minor? Emancipation typically occurs when a minor reaches the age of majority, which in Pennsylvania is 18, and is then independent of his or her parents. Emancipation can also occur before a minor reaches the age of ...
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Awarding Child Custody in PA: Standards Used by the Court
Posted in: Custody & Visitation, General
Pennsylvania’s Child Custody law applies to married parents, married but separated parents, and parents who have never been married. The law may also apply to biological and non-biological parents. In 2011 Pennsylvania amended the legal standard for awarding child custody ...
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