June, 2009 | Pennsylvania Family Law Blog - The Law Offices of Sheryl R. Rentz Archive

Pennsylvania Domestic Violence Charges against Man

By Sheryl Rentz on June 24, 2009

A Pennsylvania man has been charged with domestic violence after he reportedly slammed a woman’s hand in a door at a local hotel, the Port Clinton News Herald reported. The 52-year-old man was arrested and charged with domestic violence after officers were called to America’s Best Value Inn with reports that two people were fighting and screaming at each other. A woman apparently told police that the man had repeatedly slammed her hand in a door. But the man told police that the woman had hit him in the face and that he may have shut her hand in the door as he was leaving. The man had no visible injuries, but the woman was taken to the hospital for a possible broken hand, officials said. Read the rest »

Pennsylvania Counties Sued in Mistaken Child Support Case

By Sheryl Rentz on June 10, 2009

A Philadelphia man, who was forced to pay child support for another man’s daughter and went to jail for falling behind on those payments, is suing two Pennsylvania counties alleging that officials changed his personal identifying information to make him appear to be the child’s father. According to an Associated Press news report, Walter Andre Sharpe Jr. names Dauphin and Montgomery counties in the federal lawsuit filed in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Sharpe is seeking unspecified damages. He apparently spent more than a year in jail in Dauphin County where the girl’s mother lived. Sharpe has also been denied reimbursement for the $12,000 he has paid so far in child support – for a child that apparently wasn’t his own.

This is no doubt a shocking story. It’s hard enough in these tough economic times to make Pennsylvania child support payments to support your own children, but to be forced to pay money to a child who is not your own is simply appalling. The DA apparently decided against filing criminal charges against county officials after an investigation. It seems terribly unjust to Sharpe who was not even given his money back. Read the rest »

Child Support Payments Hampered by Economic Downturn

By Sheryl Rentz on June 3, 2009

The slowing economy and weak job market is having an adverse effect on child support, Illinois officials are finding out. According to this news report in the Chicago Tribune, a lot of parents are asking for a break because they have lost their jobs or have some other economic hardship. The Illinois Division of Child Support is apparently seeing a slowdown in collections and an increase in support paid out of unemployment benefits. This trend is understandably putting a strain on custodial parents who depend on that child support check to keep their households running. Illinois law requires parents who don’t have custody to pay between 20 and 50 percent of his or her income, depending on the number of children involved.

Pennsylvania has very strict laws that make penalties for those who don’t pay child support extremely severe. Any amount owed in back payments is known as “arrearages.” The parent who fails to make those payments can face harsh penalties including jail time, driver’s license and passport suspension, bank account seizure, reporting of failure to pay to credit agencies and seizure of certain incomes and properties. Read the rest »