fbpx

Divorce and Family Law Office of Joanne Kleiner

Amicable Divorce Attorney

Visit Our Blog

May 24

Divorce Mediation in Pennsylvania

Divorce Mediation

If your marriage has ended and divorce is the only option, you may still want to find a way to resolve your differences amicably, rather than incurring the time and expense of protracted litigation. You may want to consider mediation as an alternative. Here’s how the process works.

With mediation, the parties agree to pay a third-party neutral to help identify and settle any disputes involving child custody and visitation, child support, alimony or spousal support, and the equitable distribution of property. As a neutral, the mediator is charged with helping you and your ex come up with mutually beneficial ways to resolve your differences. Unlike a proceeding in court, mediation generally does not involve testimony from witnesses or then introduction of any evidence. Furthermore, the mediator won’t make any decisions for you, and won’t issue any rulings. Instead the mediator will try to facilitate a dialogue between you and your ex-spouse, so that the two of you iron out all the details.

There are a number of advantages to mediation over litigation. First, it’s usually less expensive and takes far less time to complete. Typically, you’ll share the cost of a mediator. Most divorce mediations can be completed in one or two sessions, and you won’t have to try to get on the court’s docket. Furthermore, because the mediator will not make any rulings on evidence or testimony, you don’t need to go through a lengthy discovery process before mediation.

Another benefit to mediation—you actually get to participate in the decision-making. Instead of depending on a judge or jury to make a ruling, you can propose solutions, reject offers from your spouse and be actively engaged in fashioning the outcome.

Finally, mediation can allow you to finalize matters without bitterness or acrimony, an important matter if you have minor children and need to maintain a long-term relationship with your ex.

Contact the Law Office of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates

For an appointment, contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266. Let us use our experience, skill, knowledge and resources to help you make informed and effective decisions.

May 06

Important Terms to Know as You Prepare for Divorce

Prepare for Divorce

If you are considering or have filed for divorce, or if you anticipate being served with a divorce complaint, you’ll start hearing many terms with which you may not be familiar. Here are some legal terms that you should learn, so that you can meaningfully participate in the proceedings

Discovery

If your divorce is contested in any way—custody, visitation, child support or division of marital debts and assets—the court will most likely identify the length of the “discovery” period, and set some rules governing discovery. “Discovery” is simply the term that lawyers and judges use for gathering evidence. In the American judicial system, we have the concept of “open discovery.” That means that both sides are entitled to access to all evidence related to the case—one party cannot intentionally hide or fail to disclose relevant evidence. If that happens, there’s a significant chance that the court will rule the evidence to be inadmissible.

Equitable Distribution

Equitable distribution refers to a method for allocating the debts and assets of a marriage. For states that follow equitable distribution principles, property and liabilities are divided equitably, or “fairly.” It’s important to understand that “equitable” does not mean “equal.” The court may consider a wide range of factors. For example, in Pennsylvania, the court can examine, among other factor:

  • The duration of the marriage
  • The age and health of both parties
  • The earning power and sources of income of both parties

Spousal Maintenance

Spousal maintenance is just another term for alimony. It can also be referred to as “spousal support.” Though alimony or spousal maintenance is not as common as it used to be, it is still used in specific situations, including where a spouse may lack the skills to be gainfully employed, or may need time to develop those skills or get the requisite education or training.

Contact Us

At the office of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates, we have more than 25 years of family law experience. We’ll help you stay focused on what matters. To schedule an appointment with an experienced Pennsylvania divorce attorney, contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266.

Apr 19

What Happens to Pets in a Divorce?

When your marriage falls apart, there are lots of things to think about, lots of ways you have to figure out how to divide things. How will your children divide their time with parents and where will they spend their time? How about marital debts and assets? What about the family pets??? —Wait a minute—that’s not one you’d thought about, is it?

pet and separation

Though people seldom factor the pets into a decision whether or not to get divorced, experts acknowledge that, for many people, pets are part of the family. The unfortunate reality, according to the law in just about every state, is that pets are treated like property in a divorce, not like children. If it’s an amicable divorce and you and your ex can effectively work together, you can have “shared custody” of your animals. If that’s not possible, what will most likely happen is that the court order will give the “property” to one of the parties. In fact, a Pennsylvania Superior Court decision in 2003, which is still law in the state, addressed this very issue.

In DeSanctis v. Pritchard, the trial court rejected a couple’s complaint for enforcement of a divorce settlement agreement that included shared custody of a dog. The couple appealed and the appellate court likened the custody agreement for the dog to “a visitation schedule for a table or lamp.” The court ruled that the canine was personal property and that the parties could not have shared custody of personal property.

A recently enacted statute in Alaska gives animal enthusiasts cause for optimism. The Alaskan legislature passed provisions giving family law courts the authority to make decisions in divorce proceedings about companion animals. Essentially, the Alaskan law allows a court to consider the well-being of the animal when determining who will get the pet—the court can consider such factors as who had the closest bond with the animal and who cared for the pet.

Contact Attorney Joanne E. Kleiner

Let us help you protect your rights. Contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266 to schedule a confidential consultation. We will help you stay focused on the issues that matter.

Apr 13

Protecting Your Minor Children after a Divorce

Protecting Your Minor Children after a DivorceWhen your marriage has failed, but you have minor children living in the home, one of your priorities will need to be the physical, emotional and mental health of your children. Even though the conflict was between you and your ex, your children were most likely aware of it, and have some emotional wounds that need to be addressed. In addition, you need to be careful not to engage in behaviors that are detrimental to them.

The most important thing you can offer your child in the midst of and after a divorce is your full listening attention. They’ll be scared and uncertain of their future, and will likely have a lot of questions. They may worry that they’ll never see their other parent again. Be honest with them. Don’t sugarcoat the situation or minimize the consequences of the divorce. But also help them understand that you’ll all get through it.

Don’t put your children in a position where they feel forced to take sides. If you still have significant differences with your ex, keep them to yourself. If there are issues you need to discuss with your ex, particularly ones that may be contested and potentially confusing to your children, have those discussions by phone or somewhere and some time when your kids are not present.

Don’t ever assume that your kids are too young to deserve an answer to their questions. Don’t ever tell them “we’ll talk about that more when you are older.” Your kids are trying to figure out what happened and if you don’t tell them, they’ll try to figure it out on their own—and they’ll probably come up with the wrong answer. They may conclude that they were the cause of your divorce.

Don’t ever disparage your ex with your children. It’s okay for them to see that you and your ex don’t agree on everything—that’s a part of life. But avoid statements that demean or belittle their other parent. They love both of you and should never feel wrong for feeling that way.

Contact Attorney Joanne E. Kleiner

Let us help you protect your rights. Contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266 to schedule a confidential consultation. We will help you stay focused on the issues that matter.

Apr 13

Divorce and Retirement Assets—Protecting Your Rights

Divorce and Retirement Assets—Protecting Your RightsAre you considering filing for divorce or already a party to a divorce proceeding, where the marital estate includes a substantial amount of retirement savings? For many persons involved in divorce proceedings, particularly later in life, retirement assets are one of the largest components of the marital estate, often exceeding the value of the marital home. Frequently, too, they have been accumulated by only one of the parties. So what happens to those assets in a divorce?

As a general rule, all retirement assets accrued, contributions made or values accumulated during a marriage are part of the marital estate and divided according to law. In Pennsylvania, which applies equitable distribution principles to property settlements in divorce cases, the value of retirement funds must be divided equitably, or fairly (but not necessarily equally), between the parties. When determining what is fair, the court may consider a wide range of factors, including:

  • How long the parties were married
  • Whether either party was married before
  • The age and health of the parties
  • The standard of living to which the parties were accustomed

When dividing retirement assets, though, there can be some challenges related to the potential tax consequences. Because retirement contributions are often made in pre-tax dollars, you must be careful, when taking a distribution from an ex-spouse’s 401k or IRA, that you take the right steps to prevent that distribution from becoming taxable income until you want it to be such. Typically, the way that you do that is through a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). A QDRO will allow you to rollover the distribution into your own qualified plan without tax penalty.

Contact the Law Office of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates

For an appointment, contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266. Let us use our experience, skill, knowledge and resources to help you make informed and effective decisions.