Let's Talk New Child Support Guidelines for 2022
For time immemorial Pennsylvania’s appellate law has held that people who have children have a duty to deploy their resources to see that those children are adequately support. Child support is a “priority” obligation. “The...more
Black letter law is that to change a child support Order, the person seeking a modification must show a substantial and continuing change of circumstances. But what is the standard if there is a custody agreement, even if the...more
The phrase “Truth is stranger than fiction” is attributed to Mark Twain. There are occasions when an appellate case presents a conundrum. And while it might seem fitting to criticize the trial or appellate courts in case like...more
In many states, child support obligations do not extend past either the age of 18 or the child’s graduation from high school. In Washington, however, a parent can file a petition to continue child support after the child...more
In Iowa, child and spousal support (alimony) amounts are mainly determined by each party’s income. But income is not the whole story. Parties may deduct certain qualified expenses, resulting in a lower income amount used in...more
The recent Appellate Division decision of Litton v. Litton presents an extreme case of what happens when a litigant agrees to submit his or her dispute to arbitration in Rabbinical Court, Bais Din, but then decides not to...more
Support orders may be modified by either party at any time as long as there is a material and substantial change in circumstances. However, when a party seeks to modify a support order, the party who wants to modify the order...more
The end of the year is the time for holiday merriment and top 10 lists. As a kid, I used to love to listen to Casey Kasem’s countdown of the top songs of the year. So I decided to do a top 10 list related to posts on this...more
The Massachusetts alimony statute provides that when alimony is set, the court shall exclude from the calculation gross income, which the court has already considered for setting a child support order. Effectively, this has...more
Ask any good attorney a question, and you will probably be given the following response: “It depends.” The answer usually serves as a preface to a more thorough discussion about the specific facts of your case, what the...more
Non modifiable child support provisions are infrequent but do come up occasionally when parties are negotiating Property Settlement Agreements. It typically arises when a dependent spouse asserts that a certain level of...more
January 1, 2022 saw the changes made pursuant to Pennsylvania’s quadrennial review of child support go into effect. While most of the changes and updates were minor, there are some that may impact existing child support...more
More and more, we have seen medical practices bought up by hospitals, large medical groups and venture capitalists who combine the practices into mega-practices or networks. In those cases, often one doctor in a group has no...more
On August 2, 2021, Chief Justice of the Trial Court, Paula M. Carey, signed new Child Support Guidelines, which go into effect on October 4, 2021. These new guidelines are the result of work by the Child Support Guidelines...more
The Appellate Division’s July 6, 2021 decision follows nearly a decade of post-judgment divorce litigation between the parties. Defendant appealed three (3) Family Part orders which (1) denied his motion to reopen an...more
After a divorce or paternity matter ends, one or both parties may want to somehow modify the judgment. In a general sense, modifications occur in cases of child custody, child support, spousal support, or alimony. However,...more
In divorce and paternity cases, one parent is often ordered to pay child support to the other. While child support formulas can vary by state, child support calculations typically involve the court look at varying factors....more
The newly unreported (does not set precedent) decision of Covone v. Curreri makes two bold moves: (1) asserting that the passage of time is not a change in circumstance warranting a modification to child support and (2)...more
COVID-19 has altered daily life for all of us. Schools and non-essential businesses are closed. Kids are at home. We are dealing with the pressures of obtaining food, medicine and even toilet paper. And most seriously, the...more
If you are watching the news you have some impression of what New Orleans must have been like in the hours before Hurricane Katrina hit. The Coronavirus storm is hitting New York City and the lower counties with a fury. The...more
A common misperception arises as to when child support amounts change. As a general rule, parents are required to exchange tax returns each year during the period of time that child support is owed. ...more
For many individuals, they can find themselves facing a divorce or family law matter. Their spouse (or the other party to the family law case) has an attorney. They indicate that their attorney is simply going to draw up the...more
When individuals think about family law matters, divorce cases are the first types of family law cases that often come to mind. It is true that divorce filings are probably the most common type of family law case. ...more
School placement for children during and after a divorce can be a very contentious topic between spouses. Addressing educational opportunities and placements for the children is a vital step in resolving custody and parenting...more
Sometimes even a 60 percent drop in income isn’t enough. In In re Marriage of Usher (2016) 6 Cal.App.5th 347, the Second District Court of Appeal held that the reduced monthly income of Kinka Usher (“Kinka”) from...more