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Divorce and Family Law Office of Joanne Kleiner

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Feb 07, 2013

Dividing Debt in a Divorce

Jenkintown Debt Division Divorce Attorney

The division of marital debt is, in many ways, as important as the division of marital assets. While most people facing divorce are quick to ask their divorce lawyer how their 401k, IRA accounts, savings, and real and personal property will likely be divided, too often scant attention is paid to the division of marital debt. Here, it’s important to remember you’re contractually responsible for any credit card, loan, or line of credit your name is on, regardless of whether or not you use a particular account. Consequently, if you co-signed on your spouse’s car loan or have a joint credit card with him or her, you’re responsible for any outstanding debt on it.

Marital Debt and Your Divorce Agreement

Confusion arises when people mistakenly think their divorce agreement takes precedence over or nullifies their financial obligations in regard to joint credit cards, unsecured loans, medical bills, or joint lines of credit. What cannot be emphasized enough is the fact that your divorce agreement has nothing to do with your financial obligations in regard to lines of credit your name is on. When you take out a joint credit card, loan, or line of credit you are contractually bound to adhere to the terms of the line of credit in question.

Consequently, even if your spouse had exclusive use of a credit card or loan, if your name is on the account you can be held financially responsible for it should he or she fail to pay off it off. Thus, even if your divorce agreement indicates your spouse is responsible for it, creditors can still (and will!) initiate collection actions against you if your ex-spouse fails to pay off the debt. Telling a creditor or collection agency that your spouse is responsible for the account under the terms of your divorce agreement will not relieve you of your contractual obligations if your ex-spouse fails to discharge the debt.

Dividing Marital Debt – How to Protect Yourself

What steps can you take, then, to protect yourself? If possible, the best way to discharge marital debt is accounting for it in the division of marital assets. For example, suppose you and your spouse owe $5,000 on a joint credit card. When assets or savings are divided, include in your divorce agreement provisions that indicate which spouse will pay the credit card off and apportion $5,000 to him or her for that explicit purpose. If he or she fails to discharge the debt, you can then initiate a contempt of court order against them in order to collect any money you end up paying as a result. While it may take some time, the court has the power to garnish wages and use other means to ensure you are compensated accordingly.

Don’t Ruin Your Credit – Divide Your Marital Debt and Protect Yourself

Failure to properly divide or discharge marital debt can harm your credit report should accounts go delinquent. That’s why it’s important to take steps to protect yourself in your divorce agreement. To learn how we can help you, contact Jenkintown marital debt division attorneys at Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates today.

Oct 28, 2012

Division of Marital Property in Pennsylvania (PA)

Dividing marital assets and liabilities in a divorce can be a difficult, challenging process wrought with financial concerns and clouded by emotions. It is helpful to understand the property division laws in Pennsylvania, so that you can make wise, sound decisions as you transition into your next phase of life.

Marital assets are divided equitably in Pennsylvania between the two divorcing spouses. This does not mean that assets, property, and liability are divided evenly. It means that they are divided fairly between both spouses. Additionally, the courts in Pennsylvania will take into consideration the contributions, both financial and otherwise by each of the divorcing partners.

Asset Valuation

Asset valuations, or discerning the value of involved assets, are determined in most situations at the time the asset is being divided.

General Points to Consider With Equitable Division

Length of marriage, degree of education, and age of divorcing spouses are all factors that the courts take into account when determining how to divide property. Additionally, the health, ability to earn a living, and the standard of living that has been the status quo of the marriage are all taken into account.

Pensions

Pensions that will be subject to equitable property division include the amount that was acquired during the time of the marriage up to the separation, in most cases. In some cases, disability pensions may not be considered as marital property.

Gifts and Inheritances

Those gifts and/or inheritances that were given specifically to one spouse during the marriage will generally not be subject ot marital division. Again, it will depend on the specifics of your individual situation.

Sacrifice of Spouse

Here the question becomes whether one spouse did give up a potentially lucrative career to support the other spouse in his or her career efforts or to provide a stable home for the children. If one spouse did sacrifice in manners like these, the sacrifice can potentially be compensated for and monetized upon division of property.

Custodial Parent and Children’s Financial Needs

This issue becomes especially important when a divorce involves a special needs child or a child with serious health problems.

Pre-Nuptial Agreements

Agreements like these could have excluded some assets, including a business, from property division.

Marital Misconduct

Although indeed troubling, misconduct does not impact equitable distribution in Pennsylvania.

Talk Your Situation Over With a Family Law Attorney – Abington, PA

In any divorce proceeding, equitable division can become a difficult, upsetting process. Having an experienced family law attorney who knows how to protect your rights and help you understand consequences of your decisions can make a world of difference in how you proceed with your life after the divorce. Contact the Abington law firm of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates or call (215) 886-1266 to schedule a consultation with an experienced family law attorney. We represent clients throughout Southwestern PA.

Oct 10, 2012

Online Infidelity in Pennsylvania (PA)

Dividing marital assets and liabilities in a divorce can be a difficult, challenging process wrought with financial concerns and clouded by emotions. It is helpful to understand the property division laws in Pennsylvania, so that you can make wise, sound decisions as you transition into your next phase of life.

Marital assets are divided equitably in Pennsylvania between the two divorcing spouses. This does not mean that assets, property, and liability are divided evenly. It means that they are divided fairly between both spouses. Additionally, the courts in Pennsylvania will take into consideration the contributions, both financial and otherwise by each of the divorcing partners.

Asset Valuation

Asset valuations, or discerning the value of involved assets, are determined in most situations at the time the asset is being divided.

General Points to Consider With Equitable Division

Length of marriage, degree of education, and age of divorcing spouses are all factors that the courts take into account when determining how to divide property. Additionally, the health, ability to earn a living, and the standard of living that has been the status quo of the marriage are all taken into account.

Pensions

Pensions that will be subject to equitable property division include the amount that was acquired during the time of the marriage up to the separation, in most cases. In some cases, disability pensions may not be considered as marital property.

Gifts and Inheritances

Those gifts and/or inheritances that were given specifically to one spouse during the marriage will generally not be subject ot marital division. Again, it will depend on the specifics of your individual situation.

Sacrifice of Spouse

Here the question becomes whether one spouse did give up a potentially lucrative career to support the other spouse in his or her career efforts or to provide a stable home for the children. If one spouse did sacrifice in manners like these, the sacrifice can potentially be compensated for and monetized upon division of property.

Custodial Parent and Children’s Financial Needs

This issue becomes especially important when a divorce involves a special needs child or a child with serious health problems.

Pre-Nuptial Agreements

Agreements like these could have excluded some assets, including a business, from property division.

Marital Misconduct

Although indeed troubling, misconduct does not impact equitable distribution in Pennsylvania.

Talk Your Situation Over With a Family Law Attorney – Bucks, Philadelphia, and Montgomery Counties, PA

In any divorce proceeding, equitable division can become a difficult, upsetting process. Having an experienced family law attorney who knows how to protect your rights and help you understand consequences of your decisions can make a world of difference in how you proceed with your life after the divorce. Contact the Pennsylvania law firm of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates or call (215) 886-1266 to schedule a consultation with an experienced family law attorney.

Sep 26, 2012

Online Infidelity: Cheating Spouses on Facebook and Twitter in Pennsylvania (PA)

Social media has made the possibility of cheating a lot easier. You don’t even have to physically be present to cheat on your spouse anymore. Online cheating, or carrying on a virtual affair through sexting; illicit flirtations through Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks; risqué photo exchanges, or other online is growing at a troubling rate.

There are online websites like Ashley Madison, the dating website for men and women who are already married but who are seeking an affair outside their marriage. Additionally, porn-related searches on the web accounts for 25 percent of all search engine requests, with 8 percent of all emails being porn related. And sex is the number one topic searched on the Internet, according to NCPCE Online, “Current Statistics,” http://www.nationalcoalition.org.

The fine line between chatting and cheating can be easily crossed. How do you know when your spouse has crossed the line? What are the signs?

Your spouse becomes withdrawn and emotionally distant.

Your spouse is spending an excessive amount of time on computer, especially on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites.

Your spouse doesn’t want you to see his FB posts. He or she may suddenly close the screen when you enter the room.

Your spouse is no longer talking about social media, though she or he used to enjoy talking about it regularly and often.

Your spouse always erases the browser history after using the computer, something that did not happen before.

Spy software can be purchased that takes screen shots, allows you to obtain a record of all things typed on Facebook, and obtain browser histories. There is similar spyware for cell phones that will recover deleted phone numbers, photos, and texts.

Talk Your Situation Over With a Family Law Attorney – Southwestern PA

Are you considering divorce? Talk to an experienced family law attorney who knows how to protect your rights and help you understand consequences of your decisions. Contact the Southwestern Philadelphia law firm of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates or call (215) 886-1266 to schedule a consultation with an experienced family law attorney.

Sep 12, 2012

Common Paternity Issues in Pennsylvania (PA)

A home DNA paternity test can cost as little as $79 dollars, but it will not hold up in a court of law. A DNA paternity test that legally can establish paternity costs $230 or more in Pennsylvania. The issues of paternity, however, revolve around far more than money.

Single Moms

When a single mother has a baby, paternity of that child must be determined to resolve questions involving child support and child custody.  Once paternity is established, an order of child support will be directed to the father. Additionally, he can seek visitation rights or even child custody, in some situations.

Married But Not the Father

A mother may hesitate to address paternity if she does not want the alleged father to have anything to do with the child, or if she is married to another man who is not the father.

Sometimes, a paternity case involves a man legally acknowledging that he is the father of a child, but then he learns that the child in question is not actually his biological child. IT may take more than just a DNA test to set aside an acknowledgement of paternity, especially if many years have passed. If there is the slightest question about paternity, it is wise to take the DNA paternity test before signing the document of paternity.

When Grandparents Are Raising the Child

There can be occasions when the birth mother may not be able to parent her baby. The young mom’s parents may take over parenting, but they may refuse to allow the biological father access to the baby in question. The alleged father will need to take a paternity test to establish parenthood. Once that is established, he will then need to seek visitation or even custody of the child through the family court system in Pennsylvania.

In other cases, blood relatives of the child in question believe that the biological father is no longer alive. The father may not even know, however, that he has a child. If he does learn of the child and believes that he is the father, he will also need to establish paternity through DNA testing.

Paternity cases can be quite complex, and having an attorney who is experienced in representing clients involved in paternity cases can protect your rights and provide reassurance at every step of the way through these emotionally challenging situations.

Talk Your Situation Over With a Family Law Attorney – Southwestern PA

Contact the Pennsylvania law firm of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates or call (215) 886-1266 to schedule a consultation with an experienced family law attorney.