South Hills Family Law
4 Tips for PFA Defendants
It is important to maintain your composure at your Final PFA hearing.
It will be difficult to remain calm while the opposing party makes allegations of abuse against you, but walking into a hearing with a bad attitude may affect the judge’s opinion of you and add to the plaintiff’s credibility – even if the allegations are false.
To avoid discrediting your version of events, follow these four tips at your PFA hearing:
- Do not raise your voice in anger to the judge, your lawyer, or the other party;
- Do not shake your head, roll your eyes, or laugh while the other party is speaking;
- Do not interrupt the other party or the judge;
- Do not make mean-spirited comments about the other party.
If you have been served with a PFA order, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Child Custody and Summer Vacation
Children eagerly await the end of the school year and the start of summer vacation. But summer vacation can be a stressful time for you and your ex, as this means accommodating one another’s vacation schedules. These five tips can help alleviate some of the tensions that arise when planning vacations:
- Tell your ex your plans ahead of time;
- Do not violate the terms of an existing custody order;
- Give your ex the details of your trip (location, lodging, transportation, phone numbers, etc.);
- Arrange for communication between the children and your ex;
- Confirm the agreement in writing.
To speak with an experienced child custody attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Parenting Plans for Teens
Teenage children are often more adaptable to custody schedules because they can better balance differences in household routines. As long as the parenting plan allows the children to see both parents on a frequent and continued basis, the schedule can be flexible. When making a parenting plan for your teenagers, consider the following:
- Permit the children to call the other parent in privacy;
- Respect the well-reasoned preferences of the children;
- Accommodate the children’s school activities and extracurricular activities;
- Consider the social needs of the children.
To speak with an Allegheny County child custody attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
How A PFA Affects Your Divorce
When you initiate a divorce, it is important to keep your emotions in check. Divorce can be emotionally draining, but the playing field may quickly uneven when one party obtains a Temporary Protection from Abuse (PFA) Order.
Avoid any form of contact that could be construed as abusive, which includes shouting matches with your ex. Your ex could file a PFA against you after a verbal argument claiming that she fears you.
The PFA can evict you from your home, restrict your child custody rights, require you to pay support, and order you to continue contributing to marital home expenses.
Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law, including: divorce, child custody, child support, and PFA hearings. To speak with an experienced family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Post-Gazette Features Spivak Law Firm
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has once again featured Spivak Law Firm on issues involving family law and criminal defense.
The P-G recently published the article, Impoverished Parents Deserve Their Day In Court, written by Rebecca Canterbury, who will begin work at Spivak Law Firm as an associate attorney in the fall.
Attorney Todd Spivak, the owner of Spivak Law Firm and a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, assisted with writing and editing the article for publication.
The Post-Gazette routinely features Spivak Law Firm, publishing several articles of important legal commentary on child custody and Protection From Abuse (PFA) laws in Pennsylvania.
In Crack Down On Domestic Violence In Allegheny County, Attorney Spivak calls on Allegheny County to let specialized judges with extensive domestic-violence training oversee all PFA hearings.
In Improve Pennsylvania’s Domestic-Abuse Law, Attorney Spivak exposes the issue of bogus PFA orders and recommends ways to curb abuses in the system.
In Child Custody For Rapists, Attorney Spivak explains how rapists use family court to harass and intimidate their victims. Since the article’s publication, the Pennsylvania Legislature has taken action to safeguard the custody rights of rape victims.
Spivak Law Firm provides strong, compassionate, cost-effective representation in all family law and criminal defense matters. Call us at (412) 344-4900.
Talking Divorce To Kids
Although there is a great deal of literature discussing the impact of divorce on children, there really is no clear cut way to break the news to them. Each family unit is unique, but the following five tips may make it less traumatic for both you and your children:
- Discuss what you plan to tell the children;
- Agree on what you do not plan to tell the children;
- Tell your children together with your ex-spouse;
- Reinforce to the children that the divorce is not their fault;
- Ensure that the children know the divorce is not reversible.
Spivak Law Firm handles all family law matters, including: divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, and PFA hearings. To schedule a consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Served with a PFA?
If you’ve been served with a Protection from Abuse (PFA) order, you should begin preparing your defense immediately, as your PFA hearing will likely occur within just 10 days.
Spivak Law Firm provides strong, aggressive defense at PFA hearings in Pittsburgh and all surrounding counties, including: Allegheny County, Beaver County, Butler County, Fayette County, Indiana County, Washington County, and Westmoreland County. We work hard to protect your reputation, your job, and your child custody rights.
If you’re served with a PFA, we recommend taking the following actions:
- Call Spivak Law Firm for a free consultation.
- Avoid all contact with the plaintiff.
- Collect documentary evidence such as texts, emails, and photographs for your defense.
Served with a PFA? Call Spivak Law Firm today at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Penalties for Not Paying Child Support
If you are entitled to receive child support, the system in Pennsylvania is set up to garnish wages from the paying spouse and deposit the money directly into your account.
If a parent fails to pay child support, the court may enter a judgment for the total amount of unpaid support, requiring immediate payment in full.
Failure to obey a support order of court could result in sanctions such as attorney’s fees and even imprisonment.
To speak with an experienced family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Helping Juvenile Offenders
In Pennsylvania, people under 18 who commit crimes go to family court, where the approach is more rehabilitative and less punitive. Some policy experts advocate raising the family court’s age to young adults up to 25-years-old.
“Young adults are more similar to adolescents than fully mature adults in important ways,” wrote Vincent Schiraldi and Bruce Western of the Harvard Kennedy School in a recent column published in The Washington Post. “They are more susceptible to peer pressure, less future-oriented, and more volatile in emotionally charged settings.”
Additionally, they point to “disastrous” public safety outcomes resulting from drawing a line at age 18: “For example, 78 percent of 18- to 24-year-old released from prison are rearrested and about half return to prison within three years, the highest rescidivism rate of any age cohort.”
Spivak Law Firm handles all family law and criminal defense matters. We are routinely appointed to represent juveniles in Allegheny County. To schedule a consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
4 Reasons to Modify Child Support
Either parent may seek to modify a child support order at any time. The moving party will need to show a substantial change of circumstances occurred since the final order was entered by the court.
What constitutes a substantial change of circumstances?
Common examples include:
- One parent gets more custody time
- One parent gets a significant pay increase
- One parent gets laid off from work
- A child seeks to participate in a new extra-curricular activity
Do not voluntarily quit a job to avoid paying child support, as a court can assign an earning capacity based on past income levels.
To schedule a consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.