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Jan 19

Co-Parent Relocation With Your Child After a Pennsylvania Divorce

Judges Approve Relocations That Benefit Children

Anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher, Ph.D., reports that divorce within eight years of getting married results from disappointment, unmet expectations, financial problems, substance abuse, or even physical or emotional abuse. Divorce impacts your children psychologically, physically, academically, and behaviorally. Your children need a strong family, support system, and home where they are loved and can express their emotions.

Moving With Your Child After Divorce

Relocation under Pennsylvania law is open to interpretation, and it means you must modify or renegotiate child custody, time-sharing plans, and how and when you and your partner will each be with your children. Pennsylvania law defines relocation as “a change in the residence of the child, which significantly impairs the ability of a non-relocating party to exercise custodial rights.” Our family divorce lawyer can help you to mediate a cost-effective way to change your child custody agreement.

Notification of Interested Parties

Changing your child’s home address requires the signed approval of all who have access to the child under your existing court order or a judge’s approval. The relocating parent must formally notify all parties at least 60 days prior to the move. Co-parents must agree and negotiate a parenting plan that’s in the best interest of both you and your children.

Modification of Your Child Custody Order

The non-relocating parent is obligated to agree with the petitioner and negotiate new co-parenting or visitation arrangements or object to the proposed move by stating objections. If the co-parent or a biological parent objects to the change, the judge schedules a hearing. You should never simply move with your child because you can be held in contempt of court and ordered to return the child to your co-parent.

Relocation Hearing

The judge considers alcohol or substance abuse, DUI convictions, spousal or child abuse, and the contribution of each parent to the financial support of the child. Generally, it’s important to maintain a relationship with your child to be considered for visitation or joint custody, but an absent parent may be granted visitation or custody if the petitioning parent is not a good choice.

The judge will approve changes that benefit your child financially, emotionally, or educationally. For example, your child may benefit when you take on a higher-paying job. The judge may decide moving closer to family and friends increases your children’s support network and approve your move.

Mediation of Child Custody Issues

Our family divorce lawyer with more than 30 years’ worth of experience can help you to mediate a cost-effective solution to the modification of your child custody order. Agreeing on child custody issues and creating an amicable relationship between co-parents is best for your children. If you intend to appear in court with a lawyer, you’ll have to pay legal fees. A judge will consider the physical availability of the child to the non-relocating parent, including time-sharing, the distance between the homes, how the child will travel from one house to the other, and who will pay for the trip.

Competing Presumptions

Relocation with a child after divorce opens up the issue of child custody for all parties who are interested in each child. Competing presumptions allow a biological parent to seize the opportunity to gain joint custody or visitation that they, otherwise, did not enjoy. A DNA test determines who is a child’s biological father, but the judge has the right to decide that another man is your child’s legal father. A biological father can file for custody of his child if his wife is the co-parent attempting to relocate. If your child is a teenager, the judge will ask your child where he or she wants to live.

Law Office of Joanne Kleiner

Call our family divorce lawyer at (215) 886-1266 today to schedule a confidential consultation in our conveniently located Jenkintown office. You can meet with us before you change your residence or respond to a petition from a co-parent who hopes to relocate with your child. Our family lawyer may be able to help you if you are a child’s biological parent who hopes to gain joint custody or visitation rights with your children.

Dec 23

What’s the Difference Between Physical and Legal Custody?

Understanding How the Different Custody Types Work

If you are one of the 13.4 million families where the parents do not live together, it is important to have a clear custody arrangement. The right agreement ensures your child has the care they need. When discussing custody arrangements, it is important to keep in mind that physical and legal custody are actually two very different things.

What Is Physical Custody?

Physical custody is about who the child actually lives with. If a parent has physical custody, they have the right to have their child live with them at least some of the time. Physical custody can be divided in any manner of ways. Some parents split physical custody 50/50 while others may just have custody on weekends or at holidays. It is also possible for one parent to have sole physical custody. In these cases, the child lives entirely with one parent. However, the parent without physical custody may still have parenting time rights with their child.

What Is Legal Custody?

When talking to your divorce lawyer about custody, keep in mind that legal custody also exists. This is a type of custody that lets you have input in your child’s upbringings. Legal custody allows you to make decisions about things like:

  • Where your child goes to school
  • What medical care your child receives
  • What religion your child learns about
  • Whether your child goes to therapy

Legal custody is typically shared 50/50 or awarded to just one parent. However, in some cases of joint legal custody, a judge may decide one parent is the “tie breaker” who gets to make the decision when both parties do not agree. Typically, the tie-breaking parent is the one who is the main caregiver of the child.

Which Type of Custody Should You Seek?

Now that you know a bit about legal vs. physical custody, it’s helpful to learn a little about how these forms of custody are awarded in a divorce or separation. Who gets custody is determined based on the best interest of the child. When both parents are responsible, loving parents, the court usually prefers that both legal and physical custody are split. However, any separation can get complicated, so sharing physical and legal custody is not always an option.

Most parents instinctively want to seek sole physical custody because they want to spend as much time with their children as they can. Sole physical custody can provide a child with more stability and ensure they remain with their primary caregiver. It is often a good idea if the other parent is too busy for child care or does not adequately meet a child’s needs. However, joint custody can also be a good idea. If you and your co-parent both have good relationships with your child, spending time with both parents can meet your child’s emotional and social needs.

In most cases, courts prefer to maintain joint legal custody whenever possible. This allows both parents the opportunity to participate in their child’s upbringing. However, you will need sole legal custody if the other parent is abusive. It might also be a good idea to try for sole legal custody if the other parent is neglectful or does not spend time in the child’s day-to-day life. In some cases, legal custody is a matter of convenience. If a parent lives far away and does not communicate promptly, you might need sole custody to ensure your child’s needs are met promptly.

Finding your ideal division of physical and legal custody can take some time. Since the subject is so complex, it’s a good idea to get help from an experienced divorce lawyer. The Law Office of Joanne Kleiner has been assisting families in Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia counties for over 25 years. We can mediate for an amicable separation, or our team is happy to fight for you in a contested custody case. Email us or call (215) 886-1266 in Jenkintown to set up your consultation.

Dec 19

Is It Worth It to Fight for the Family Home?

What to Do With the Family Home in a Divorce

Pennsylvania homes have appreciated by nearly 4% in the past year, creating some tough decisions for divorcing couples. Specifically, people are faced with the choice to fight for the family home or leave it. Generally, you have three options: try to fight to keep the home; let your ex-spouse stay, and be paid for your share; or sell the home, and divide the proceeds.

Will the Court Allow You to Stay?

The first thing to think about is whether the court will actually allow a person to stay in the home. Usually, a judge will want to ensure that there is as little upheaval as possible for the children. If they are accustomed to living in the home, the court will not want to make them move. That would not be in the best interests of the children. Accordingly, the parent who has physical custody of the children will have the best chance of keeping the family home.

Can You Afford It?

Moreover, both ex-spouses need to think very hard about whether they can afford the family home on their own after the divorce is final. There is a major difference between affording the mortgage on one income rather than two. It may still be a stretch even if you are receiving child support. The last thing that you would want is to become “house poor,” spending a majority of your income on housing with little to spare for anything else. These days, the ability to refinance your home at a lower interest rate could help with being able to afford the home.

When you are getting divorced, you are also balancing your short-term financial needs and your long-term plan. Things like retirement planning often take a short-term break while you get your financial feet under you after the divorce. However, you should factor in things like whether and when you will be able to retire. If keeping the home comes at the expense of your financial future, you should think hard about whether it is what you want.

Decisions About the Home Can Get Contentious

In addition, fighting to keep the family home would necessarily involve the word “fight.” This means that your divorce can end up in a hostile place. If you have children and need to co-parent, this could pose a long-term complication to a relationship that you need to preserve. While this is not to say that you should automatically surrender to what your ex-spouse wants in the name of harmony, you should recognize that it will come at a cost.

Finally, you need to weigh the factors of wanting to maintain continuity versus being better off with a fresh start. Some people may benefit from moving somewhere else, especially if staying in the same place will consume them with unpleasant memories. However, others may want to stay where they are because there would be too many changes for them to process.

In your particular case, you need to decide what is best for your specific situation. The one unchanging factor is that you need to be honest with yourself and realistic, both in terms of what you can afford and whether you can agree with your ex-spouse. You have multiple options that you need to consider while working together with your divorce attorney. Deciding to fight to keep the house can be stressful if that is your preferred course of action.

Although it may require some maneuvering, there is a way that both individuals can keep the home together, even after the divorce, in a collaborative manner. Before you decide on one course of action, consult with your divorce lawyer about the strength of your claim and whether there are any other possible solutions. Keeping or giving up the home may not necessarily be an either/or proposition.

To learn more about this and other issues affecting your legal case, contact a Jenkintown, PA, divorce lawyer at the Law Office of Joanne Kleiner at (215) 886-1266.

Nov 22

How to Handle Co-Parenting and the Risk of COVID-19 Infection

Sharing Custody During a Pandemic: Navigating COVID-19 Risks

According to the National Library of Medicine, only 60 percent of children lived with their married biological parents in 2009 compared to 84 percent in 1970. This leaves about 40 percent of children potentially traveling between two households. As COVID-19 infection rates soar across the United States, this puts children and both sets of custodial parents at an increased risk of becoming infected or passing it on to other members of either household.

Sheltering in Place Contradicts Shared Custody Arrangements

The amount of COVID-19 cases is increasing in most states as of October 2020. Public health experts and local officials continue to recommend that people shelter in place in their homes and avoid close interactions with anyone from outside their household. Unfortunately, these recommendations are likely to contradict what’s spelled out in your custody arrangement. Your situation may become even more tenuous if you discover that your ex-partner’s household poses a serious COVID-19 risk.

Understand the Common COVID-19 Risks

It’s important to recognize what is and isn’t a COVID-19 risk. For example, if your ex-partner is a surgeon who operates on patients every day, or his or her current partner is an EMS worker who transports ill and injured people for 12 hours per day, several days per week, these are risks for COVID-19. Even if your ex-partner takes precautions, he or she does have a higher-than-average risk for contracting COVID-19 and bringing it home to the rest of the household, and possibly yours. In this case, your ex-spouse may say that he or she isn’t doing anything wrong, but you could petition for temporary full custody until a vaccine is available. You could also ask that your ex-partner self-quarantine for two weeks or get a negative COVID-19 test result before spending time around your child.

Take Action If You Learn About Risky Behaviors

You may also find out that your ex-partner isn’t taking the recommended public health precautions seriously. Perhaps your child told you that the other parent had a huge party with no social distancing. Maybe your ex-partner never wears a mask. These are high-risk behaviors that put your child at a much higher risk of getting COVID-19 and bringing it home to you after spending time with the other parent. If this is your situation, it’s important to speak with our divorce lawyer. You may have legal means of keeping your child out of harm’s way if you can prove that your ex-partner is endangering your child due to a disregard for public health measures.

Be Flexible During an Urgent Situation

During these times, you’ll need to be flexible. Perhaps your ex-spouse was exposed to someone with COVID-19 or develops symptoms and seeks a test. While waiting on the test result, they should self-isolate. If you find out your ex-partner is self-isolating due to COVID-19, it’s your right to seek a temporary halt to visitation.

What You Can Do After the Fact

If you’ve been sharing custody since the COVID-19 crisis was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, you’re likely already stressed and fatigued. Now isn’t the time to let your guard down. COVID-19 will take advantage of any lapse in preventive measures. If your child comes back to your home after a weekend with the other parent, and you find out that the other parent is sick, you may be able to take action and protect your child under Pennsylvania law. The situation can be complicated because of HIPAA, but if you believe your child was exposed to COVID-19 by your ex-partner, it’s your right to have your child tested.

You need to make important decisions about the health and well-being of your child and family. The Law Office of Joanne Kleiner offers legal counsel to help you navigate these challenging times. To schedule a consultation with our divorce lawyer in Jenkintown, call (215) 886-1266, or complete our online contact form.

Nov 18

How the Pandemic Has Put a Strain on Household Finances

How to Manage Household Debts During the Pandemic

As of October 2020, the unemployment rate in the United States was 7.9%, and the unemployment rate had been as high as 14.4% in May 2020 when the pandemic was at its spring peak. Although eviction moratoriums and other protections have been put in place to help the unemployed, they can’t guarantee that you’ll enjoy financial security now or in the future.

What Happens If a Joint Debt Isn’t Paid as Agreed?

If your name is on an account that is more than 30 days past due, your credit score could fall by anywhere from 60 to 150 points. Furthermore, you may be subject to a barrage of phone calls, letters, or other attempts to collect the past due balance. This may be true even if your estranged or former partner is required to pay off a joint debt per the terms of a separation or divorce agreement.

Typically, your lender is only bound by the terms of the documents that were signed prior to receiving a loan. Ideally, a divorce decree will allow you to transfer debts that your spouse is required to pay to an account in that person’s name only.

In the event that a debt is secured by collateral, you risk losing that collateral unless an effort is made to get current on the loan. For instance, a lender could repossess a family car or foreclose on a family home if payments are not made in a timely manner.

Try to Avoid Using Retirement Funds to Repay Marital Debts

It may be tempting to use retirement savings to pay a joint credit card balance or make a mortgage payment. However, it is worth noting that money that sits inside of an IRA or 401(k) is typically exempt from being seized by creditors or by state or government tax authorities. It is also worth noting that your retirement accounts are generally seen as joint assets even if your name is the only one on them.

Therefore, making a withdrawal prior to filing for a divorce may be used against you during settlement talks or during a divorce trial. This may be true even if the money was used for what you perceived to be a legitimate purpose. A divorce lawyer may be able to provide more insight into what might happen to marital assets just before, during, and after a marriage ends.

Get in Touch With Your Lenders Immediately

In most cases, your lenders will work with you to make it easier to stay current on a loan during a period of economic distress. For example, you may be entitled to a student loan, car, or mortgage forbearance, which might make it possible to skip or postpone one or more monthly payments. If you have positive equity in a car, home, or other assets, it may be worth selling it and using the proceeds to buy food or take care of other necessities.

In some cases, alleviating your financial stress may alleviate issues in your marriage that might have put it on the brink of failure. For instance, getting mortgage forbearance may mean that you don’t have to move your child out of a quality school district or move from a home into a cramped apartment. It might also mean that your spouse doesn’t need to get a job outside of the house that could negatively impact his or her health.

However, if you feel as if your marriage is likely going to come to an end in the near future, it may be in your best interest to speak with a divorce lawyer. He or she might provide more insight into how joint assets and debts are typically divided in a divorce proceeding.

If you are in need of divorce legal services in Jenkintown, contact the Law Office of Joanne Kleiner today by calling 215-886-1266 or by sending a fax to 215-886-2670.