Usually the ex-spouse providing the support/alimony can deduct those amounts from his/her income for tax purposes. Conversely, the spouse receiving the support/alimony would include those amounts as income. They cannot file a joint income tax return.
The following conditions must be met for one spouse to receive Social Security benefits of the other spouse:
Married for at least ten years.
Be age 62 or older
Not re-married
The benefit the spouse would receive would be greater than the benefit he/she would receive based on his/her work credits.
It is important to note that your benefit as a divorced spouse is equal to one half of your ex-spouse’s full retirement amount (or disability benefit) if you start receiving benefits at your full retirement age. For information in obtaining disability benefits in Bucks County, contact a Bucks County disability lawyer.
However, if the ex spouse dies, the divorced spouse can receive the full retirement benefit.
You must be divorced for at least two years if your spouse qualifies for Social Security benefits but has not applied for them if you want to receive benefits based on his/her earnings. Be aware that benefits are reduced if taken before full retirement age.Retirement in a Bucks County Divorce
The distribution of retirement accounts in a divorce can be tricky. First of all, in retirement plans such as IRAs and 401(k) plans, only the amount contributed (and its accretion of value) during the marriage years can be distributed in a Bucks County divorce. The spouse who owns the IRA can keep any portion he/she contributed prior to the marriage. Exactly how the remaining monies from these plans will be distributed should be discussed thoroughly with an attorney or financial advisor. There are considerable tax consequences if the IRA or 401(k) is cashed. In some instances, spouses may trade one asset for another such as one spouse will retain his/her 401(k) plan in exchange for the other spouse keeping a major asset such as a house or cash. In other instances, the value of the plan will be divided in a manner agreeable to both parties. Pensions are a different matter since it is difficult to determine its projected value. The advice of an attorney or financial advisor is critical when deciding about dividing a pension.
QDRO in a Divorce
Your Bucks County divorce lawyer should inform you about a "QDRO" or Qualified Domestic Relations Order. Specifically, a QDRO is a vehicle to have your portion of a retirement account transferred into or out of your account. This is done to minimize tax implications. Typically, your attorney will employ a company that specializes in QDRO preparation to ensure the pension is transferred properly and to avoid IRS issues.
As you can see, there are a multitude of issues and concerns relating to a pension and retirement account in a divorce. You not only have to be concerned about the valuation of the account, but how it is transferred. Very complicated stuff that requires a lot of strategy.
You've gone through a Bucks County divorce and you have custody of the children. Then, your ex-spouse moves to another state. What happens?
In such situations the child support order will be handled by the appropriate agency in the state of the non custodial parent. The Bucks County Domestic Relations office will be the liaison between the two states and the Pennsylvania custodial parent.
Emancipation of a Bucks County Minor
Bucks County family lawyers will tell you that a lot of emotional and painful issues come across their desk each year. Emancipation is no difference and can become very complicated. Emancipation of a minor refers to a child under the age of 18 who legally obtains the status of an adult.
Unlike some other states, there is no specific statute in PA addressing emancipation of a minor. Rather, certain agencies within the state decide whether or not a child under 18 is emancipated. Even if emancipation is granted, it does not mean that the person has full adult status. For instance, that person still would not be able to buy alcohol until age 21.
Additional Emancipation Issues
A person is considered emancipated if he/she enters military service or gets married. Marriage under the age of sixteen requires the approval of a county judge or by the written consent of a parent or guardian. Oral consent by a parent or guardian may be given at the marriage licensing bureau. An emancipated minor can enter legal contracts, obtain medical and dental care, reside in his/her own domicile, buy and sell property and be responsible for earning his/her own money all without the approval of parents or legal guardians. If not married or in the military, the determination of being emancipated depends on whether the child resides with or is supported financially by a parent who believes the child should be emancipated and whether or not the child is self sufficient financially.
Temporary Alimony in a Bucks County Divorce
Support in a Bucks County divorce is always important. Alimony Pendente Lite, also known as APL, is a temporary court order AFTER the complaint for divorce is filed but before the divorce is final to provide financial assistance. It is a Latin term which means “while the action is pending”. If a spouse was receiving spousal support, it ends once the divorce complaint is filed. The same guidelines to determine financial assistance used in spousal support apply to alimony pendente lite. APL terminates with the finalizing of the divorce or if there is an equitable distribution of the assets/estate of the spouses. Title 23 of the Consolidated Pennsylvania Statutes allows for spousal support payments when the circumstances warrant them.
Protection from Abuse in Bucks County
A Bucks County Protection from Abuse hearing occurs when an individual files a Protection from Abuse petition. You can either be represented by a Bucks County Criminal Lawyer or Bucks County Family Lawyer.
A petition can be filed against another person if one of the following relationship exists between the individuals:
- Spouses, or persons living as spouses, whether they live together now or did in the past
- Parents, children and other persons related by blood or marriage including persons who share biological parenthood
- Current or former sexual or intimate partners
To file, the following must have occurred:
- Physical abuse
- Be in real fear of serious physical abuse because of threats or menace
- Sexual abuse
- Have been knowingly restrained (i.e. kept against your will)
When an emergency petition is filed, an individual is generally given a temporary Protection From Abuse Order until a hearing is held. The hearing is typically held 5-10 days after the petition is filed.
Bucks County PFA Procedures
In Bucks County, you will have a hearing in "PFA Court". First, however, the PFA is filed with the Prothonotary. The order, once signed by the judge, can last for up to three years. The hearing is held and abuse must be established by a preponderance of the evidence. This is NOT "beyond a reasonable doubt" and is a much lower standard. The Bucks County court, in a final Protection from Abuse Order, can order many requirements, including:
- Eviction
- Temporary Bucks County Custody
- No harassment of relatives
- No contact
- Surrender of weapons
- Reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses
- Payment of legal fees
- Financial support
As you can see, a Protection from Abuse hearing and order are very serious and have significant legal implications for your future.
Bucks County Bifurcation Divorce
Not all states allow for bifurcation in a divorce which means a married couple can legally obtain a divorce decree but have outstanding issues that remain to be resolved. Each party is free to re-marry. Although it is not the best strategy in a normal Bucks County divorce to pursue a bifurcation divorce, it is possible. Typically, you do not want to bifurcate a divorce because you want everything resolved prior to the decree. It makes everything final, clean, and finished.
Recently, the Pennsylvania Superior Court found that Husband’s refusal to pay for the financial support of the family because Wife refused to have sex with him amounted to psychological force contemplated by the criminal statutes definition of rape, Boykai v Young. This Superior Court reasons that the Husband's actions constituted sexual intercourse without Wife's consent, which amounted to sexual assault and constituted a violation from the Protection from Abuse Act.
This is an important decision authored by the Superior Court that further protects, in most instances, the Wife under the Statue.
Kardos, Rickles, Hand & Bidlingmaier, P.C., appears in the Bucks County PFA Court monthly as Bucks County divorce lawyers and has extensive experience both Plaintiffs and Defendants. If you have a question or a fact pattern concerning a potential PFA, please call for a consultation.
D.C. v. J.S., 151 Montgomery Co. L. Rep. 29 (C.C.P.
October 17, 2013). Page, J.
In D.C. v. J.S., the court addresses whether an award of counsel fees is appropriate under the custody statute 23 Pa.C.S. § 5593, which awards counsel fees to a party if the court finds the conduct of another party was obdurate, vexatious, repetitive or in bad faith, when there is no existing case law interpreting the statutory definition of the meaning of the elements of the statute.
In this case, which included extended litigation over custody and support, the Master’s Report recommended that judgment be entered in favor of Mother and against Father for an amount of the marital estate and included an award of $5,000.00 of Mother’s attorney’s fees. Father argued that the court’s imposition of attorney’s fees in favor of Mother was improper as the elements of the statute were not statutorily defined by any existing case law. This would be similar for a Bucks County divorce lawyer who performed a lot of work in a highly litigious case.
Without any existing case law interpreting the statutory definition of the elements of the statute, the trial court looked to the Statutory Construction Act of 1972 which states that “when a word or phrase is not statutorily defined, such words and phrases shall be construed according to the rules of grammar and according to their common and appropriate usage.”
Father had filed seven Petitions to Modify Custody since the entry of the parties’ Agreed Custody Order, all of which were denied. The trial court used the dictionary definition of repetitive to establish the statutory definition. As a result, the court determined Father’s filings were repetitive pursuant the statute and that it was “not in the best interest of the child to constantly be placed in the middle of continued custody litigation.” As a result the award of Mother’s counsel fees was appropriate under the statute.