Allegheny County Family Law
Family Law Protections for Rape Victims
Earlier this summer, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill restricting men who father children through rape from asserting child custody and visitation rights.
Additionally, the bill allows rape survivors to seek child support from their assailants, according to RH Reality Check, a daily publication focusing on reproductive health and justice, citing a 2012 article by Spivak Law Firm published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Nationwide, about 25,000 women become pregnant through rape each year.
To speak with a Pittsburgh family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Promoting Love for Both Parents Helps Children
According to family therapists, the worst thing is for children to feel torn. The message you need to give your children is that it is safe to love both parents, not that your child cannot love one parent because the other will be upset.
Children who are forced to take sides will feel torn, lost and angry. Children have to learn to evaluate each parent based on how he or she treats the child, not on what the parents think of each other.
To speak with an Allegheny County family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Child Custody in Allegheny County (Part 1 of 7)
In Allegheny County, any person involved in a child custody dispute must enroll in Generations, an alternative dispute resolution program that includes an educational seminar and mediation session.
The educational seminar, which takes place at Wightman School Community Building in Squirrel Hill, is approximately three hours in length and aims to offer parents the skills to reach their own resolution on custody issues. The seminar addresses several topics, including: building a co-parent relationship; developing ways to communicate and problem-solve; helping children cope effectively with their changing family; and identifying how parent conflict can affect the behavior of children.
The educational seminar is also required for children ages 6 to 15, who are grouped by age so that they can identify and share with other children similar experiences in their families. These groups are facilitated with activities, discussions, art, music and play.
To speak with an experienced Pittsburgh family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
What is Family Law?
At Spivak Law Firm, we provide strong, compassionate, and cost-effective representation in all family law issues. Family Law comprises a wide array of legal matters, including:
- Divorce Litigation In conventional divorce litigation, parties file suit and use the court system as a framework for litigating and negotiating issues including property division, alimony, child custody, and child support. Spivak Law Firm handles divorce litigation; we are also certified in divorce mediation and collaborative divorce.
- Child Custody Child custody refers to both major decisions regarding the child as well as where the child resides. At Spivak Law Firm, we handle all child custody matters, including: custody complaints, custody conciliations, custody trials, custody modification hearings, and custody relocation hearings.
- Protection From Abuse (PFA) A PFA is a no-contact order that aims to protect victims of domestic abuse. Pennsylvania law defines domestic abuse broadly to include physical and sexual assault, harassment, and stalking. Spivak Law Firm provides strong representation for both defendants and plaintiffs in PFA cases.
- Juvenile Delinquency This refers to the process of adjudicating juveniles accused of crimes. At Spivak Law Firm, we handle all juvenile law matters and routinely accept juvenile court appointments from the Allegheny County Office of Conflict Counsel.
- Child Support Child support payments continue until a child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later. In Pennsylvania, judges apply statutory guidelines to determine the amount of support payable for each child. This formula is based on several factors, including monthly after-tax incomes of the child’s parents.
- Spousal Support, Alimony Pendente Lite (APL), and Alimony These refer to financial support given by one spouse to another. Spousal support and APL are based on a fixed percentage of the differences in the net incomes or earning capacities of the spouses. Alimony is based on the reasonable needs of the dependent spouse.
- Paternity Paternity testing may be required to determine the identity of a child’s father. Establishing paternity affects several other family law issues, such as asserting custodial rights and seeking child support payments.
- Divorce Mediation A divorce mediator is a third-party neutral who aims to help parties resolve all issues related to the divorce without the financial and emotional cost that often accompanies divorce litigation. Spivak Law firm is trained and certified in divorce mediation.
- Collaborative Divorce This relatively new and progressive means of divorce avoids the courtroom in favor of allowing parties to work out agreements with the help of their attorneys. Spivak Law firm is trained and certified in collaborative divorce.
- Equitable Distribution of Marital Property This refers to the formal court process for dividing marital assets and debts based on principles of fairness.
- Adoption There are many different types of adoption, including stepparent adoption, grandparent adoption, second-parent adoption, international adoption, and surrogate-mother adoption.
- Estate Planning Estate planning includes the preparation of various important legal documents, including: wills, trusts, special-needs trusts, and powers of attorney for finances, health care and mental-health care.
To speak with a Pittsburgh family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
How To Change Your Child Support Order
Child support orders can always be modified. Parents can petition the court to modify their child support order at any time based on a change in circumstance. Courts may change a child support due to any of the following factors:
- A parent’s income significantly increases or decreases;
- The child now has significant or continuing medical expenses;
- There is a change in child care;
- There is a change in medical insurance;
- The parents now live together;
- The child receiving support has turned 18 and graduated from high school;
- The child starts living with the noncustodial parent or someone other than the custodial parent
- The noncustodial parent is incarcerated
- Other substantial changes in circumstance occur
To learn more about changing your child support order, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Accused of Abuse?
Spivak Law Firm routinely defends people accused of domestic violence and abuse. We defend people facing Protection From Abuse (PFA) orders and criminal charges such as simple assault, aggravated assault, harassment, stalking, terroristic threats, child abuse, and reckless endangerment. We also help people facing abuse charges assert child custody and visitation rights.
In family court, it is important to understand that credibility is everything. Someone accused of abuse instantly loses sympathy and credibility in the eyes of the court. Only a rapid, fact-based response can prevent a negative stereotype from attaching to you if you’re falsely accused of abuse. If this happens, it often helps to request a custody or psychological evaluation for both parents and the children, which some judges will order to get beneath the surface and thoroughly evaluate the truth, the dynamics of the parties, and their parenting abilities. Ideally you need to be prepared with a fact-based response to these common types of allegations from the start of the case.
If you’ve been accused of abuse, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Protecting Kids in Divorce
In Pennsylvania, courts generally frown on parents who fail to protect their children from conflicts during divorce.
If you’re engaged in a child custody dispute, protect your children from conflicts between you and your partner. Don’t say anything against your partner, no matter how provoked you might be, because anything could become evidence.
Avoid the following behavior:
- Asking your children questions about the other partner;
- Discussing court with your children or within their hearing;
- Asking your children to compare you and your partner;
- Giving your children choices between their two parents;
- Exposing your children to your negative emotions.
To speak with a Pittsburgh family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Pennsylvania Child Support Guidelines
Pennsylvania and 36 other states apply the Income Shares Model for calculating child support. Under this model, children of separated, divorced or never-married parents are entitled to receive the same proportion of parental income that they would have received if the parents lived together.
Several economic studies estimate the average amount of household expenses for children in intact households. These studies show that the proportion of household spending devoted to children is directly related to the level of household income and to the number of children.
Pennsylvania’s child support guidelines represent average expenses on children for food, housing, transportation, clothing and other miscellaneous items that are needed by children and provided by their parents. The guidelines, which are established by rule by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, are based upon the reasonable needs of the child.
To speak with a Pittsburgh family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Is Divorce Bad for Children?
Is divorce bad for children? “Yes, obviously,” may be your knee-jerk response, but a recent article in Scientific American points to studies showing that in the long run divorce adversely affects only a small percentage of kids.
There are many conflicting studies about the long-term consequences of divorce on children. According to University of California professor Judith Wallerstein, most adults who were children of divorce experience depression and relationship issues. But research by University of Virginia professor E. Mavis Hetherington shows that only 15 percent of adult children of divorce experience greater problems than those from stable families.
There seems to be a consensus, however, that many children experience short-term negative effects from divorce, such as anger and anxiety. According to Hetherington’s study, such effects typically diminish or disappear by the second year post-divorce.
At Spivak Law Firm, we believe strongly in protecting children through the divorce process. We handle many high-conflict divorces with issues of child custody, child support, and protection from abuse (PFA). To speak with a Pittsburgh family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Protecting Child Custody Rights
Dormont-Brookline Patch, an online news outlet, has published our article about how Pennsylvania law protects the child custody rights of rape victims. The article originally appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and has been reproduced in At Issue, a publication of the Pennsylvania Bar Association:
“At the age of 21, during her senior year in college, Shauna Prewitt was raped. She became pregnant, opted to keep the child and had a baby girl.
“Ms. Prewitt pressed criminal charges against her attacker. Her rapist responded by asserting legal custody rights over their child. Ms. Prewitt promptly withdrew her criminal complaint. Her attacker then followed suit by withdrawing his custody petition.
“‘When no law prohibits a rapist from exercising [child custody] rights,” says Ms. Prewitt, who is now an attorney and women’s rights advocate, “a woman may feel forced to bargain away her legal rights to a criminal trial in exchange for the rapist dropping the bid to have access to her child.’”
The entire article is reproduced here.
To speak with a Pittsburgh child custody attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.