Pennsylvania Family Law Blog – The Law Offices of Sheryl R. Rentz
Divorces Are More Amicable When Money Is Tight
Family law attorneys across the United States are noticing that divorces are more amicable these days because of the tight economy and the escalating costs of fighting over the house or custody of children. Couples are actually arriving at a compromise, according to this news report. Official sources of data have not yet recorded this decline in hotly contested divorces. Read the rest »
Pennsylvania Child Custody Cases Affected by Economic Crisis
The economic downturn is having its effect on divorced parents and child custody in Pennsylvania. According to a WPXI News report, tough economic times are forcing Pennsylvania parents to take jobs outside of the city they live in. This is causing legal problems because if they have children and a child custody agreement, then they cannot leave the area. The article gives the example of a mom with three sons who left Allegheny County and moved to Butler County with the children. But the courts saw it as the mother taking the children away to a different place without the father’s permission. As a result, the mother not only lost primary physical custody of her children, but is also now burdened with paying attorney fees to sort out the mess.
A number of parents do not know that they cannot do this without first getting permission from the court, especially when there is a child custody agreement in place. Parents should err on the side of caution when they relocate and inform the courts about it. Otherwise, their move could be misunderstood as kidnapping since the legal system aims to protect the custodial rights of both parents. Read the rest »
New York Child Support Collects $1.7 Billion in 2008
The state of New York has so far collected $1.7 billion in child support for the year 2008, according to this news report. That number is an increase of $104 million over the previous year. According to the New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, this was the biggest annual increase in child support collections since 2001. Officials say this increase was due to the agency’s efforts to collect as well as the establishment of paternity of 90,937 New York children – which was up 3 percent from 2007. The department can take a number of steps from garnishing wages to intercepting tax returns when non-custodial parents get behind on support payments.
Pennsylvania has very strict laws that make punishment for parents who do not pay child support very severe. Any amounts owed in back payments of child support in Pennsylvania are known as arrearages. A parent who does not pay up can face punishment that includes jail time, driving license and/or passport suspension, bank account seizure and reporting of failure to pay to credit agencies. If you are a parent who is looking to collect child support, all it takes is contacting an experienced Pennsylvania child support attorney. The best family law attorneys will not charge for an initial consultation. Read the rest »
Pennsylvania Domestic Violence Arrests
Police in Norristown arrested two men on Pennsylvania domestic violence charges, according to a news report. Brian Spangler, a 38-year-old Parker Ford man allegedly pulled a knife during a dispute with a woman in an office who had a Protection From Abuse (PFA) order against him. Police arrived at Logan Square Shopping Center at the woman’s place of work when they saw her look “visibly shaken.” The woman apparently told officers that she had a PFA. Spangler took off on foot, but police wrestled him to the ground and arrested him. He was charged with resisting arrest, simple assault, possessing a weapon and harassment. Read the rest »
Patricia Arquette Cites Irreconcilable Differences as Reason for Divorce
On January 5, 2009, actress Patricia Arquette — perhaps best known for her starring role in the NBC series Medium — filed suit in Superior Court to dissolve her two and a half year marriage to Thomas Jane. The couple married in May of 2006, and they have a five year old daughter together named Harlow whom Patricia Arquette is aiming to get full child custody.
Sources close to the couple suggest that tensions between the pair began to boil late in 2008, when Jane admitted to having driven drunk. Some speculate that Jane — who has acted in such movies as The Punisher (2004) and The Mist (2007) — had been growing increasingly jealous of Arquette’s high profile. Others suggest that he was privately bitter over her winning an Emmy for her performance in Medium. Read the rest »
Star of “Lost” Wins Skirmish in Custody Battle
On January 7, 2009, celeb gossip site TMZ.com reported that Naveen Andrews, one of the stars of the hit series Lost, emerged from Los Angeles Superior Court after winning sole child custody of his 3-year-old boy, Naveen Joshua. The TV star’s estranged “baby mama,” Elena Eustache, made wild allegations that Andrews and his new girlfriend, Barbara Hershey, had been practicing voodoo witchcraft on the child. According to reports, Eustache was worried that Naveen Joshua was going to be poisoned. Read the rest »
Massive Divorce Lawsuit May End Up Being the Biggest Ever
Texas business magnate David Saperstein recently announced to his wife Suzanne that he wanted a divorce. The circumstances wouldn’t have been too extraordinary, but for the fact that the announcement occurred while both David and Suzanne were flying over Texas in their own private Gulfstream IV plane. The Sapersteins had been known for years as a high profile couple. David Saperstein built his fortune from the ground up by developing a system of traffic reports which he later sold to mega-broadcaster Westwood; one for more than one and a quarter billion dollars. Read the rest »
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline Reach Final Custody Agreement
On July 25, 2008, Britney Spears filed a settlement at the Superior Court in Los Angeles to finalize her child custody agreement with ex-husband, Kevin Federline. A week prior, Spears had consented to give her ex custody — both physical and legal control — of Jayden James and Sean Preston, their two children. Per the agreement, Spears would retain the right to visit her children. According to sources like E! and TMZ.com, Spears has had to pay out more than $2.5 million in legal fees in 2008 — nearly ¾ of a million of which went to Mark Kaplan, a lawyer representing Kevin Federline. She also had to pay nearly the same amount to assemble a team to hammer out the conservatorship of her estate. In February, 2008, Spears’ dad and her lawyer, Andrew Wallet, were named co-conservators of the pop star’s assets and estate, and according to arrangements made on July 25, 2008, that conservatorship should be extended at least another half a year. On October 28, 2008, a hearing was held to review the progress of the conservatorship. Read the rest »
Guy Ritchie and Madonna Split After Eight Years
On November 22, 2008, a London Court unceremoniously dissolved the marriage of British film director Guy Ritchie and American pop superstar Madonna. Madonna had filed for the separation, claiming that Ritchie had exhibited unreasonable behavior. The court took all of a minute to dissolve the marriage, and neither Madonna or Ritchie nor their attorneys were around to hear Judge Reid deliver the decree nisi.
The Madonna-Ritchie separation was a remarkably low-key affair — especially when compared to the bloodbath that was the divorce of former Beatle, Paul McCartney, and his ex, Heather Mills.
All told, it’s estimated that Madonna’s personal fortune is worth nearly half a billion dollars, while Ritchie’s assets total nearly $50 million. The couple will share custody of their two boys, an eight year old son named Rocco and a three year old adopted son named David Banda. Madonna also has a 12-year-old daughter with an ex-boyfriend, Carlos Leon. The Friday afternoon court hearing in which the decree nisi was pronounced also featured the dissolution of 17 other marriages. Read the rest »
Los Angeles Times Article Features Compelling Immigration and Child Custody Battles
On June 30, 2008, the LA Times featured an article about an unusual child custody battle between a Mexican national named Carlos Alvarado and his ex-wife, Marla Campo, a US citizen. Alvarado arrived on US soil in early 1990s and later met and courted Campo. In 1997, Campo gave birth to their son, Michael. The couple then split up a few years later. A court decreed that Campo would retain primary custody of Michael. However, in 2003, the situation dramatically changed when Campo absconded with their son because — she claimed — Alvarado was not paying his fair share of child support costs. The parents went back into family court, where a judge ruled that Campo and Alvarado had to share custody. Complicating this relatively ordinary seeming custody battle, however, was the fact that Alvarado was doing battle in another court — Immigration Court. Read the rest »
We know your problems are unique & special.
Call us, we will listen.
(610) 645-0100
Meet Attorney