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Temporary PFA Orders. You need to put up a fight against having the temporary PFA converted into a longer term or "permanent" order. In other words, be reluctant to consent to a permanent PFA unless your attorney helps draft the terms of the consent order and advises you that consent is the most realistic option. Permanent PFA Orders. Once your temporary PFA becomes "permanent" by a hearing or by consent, the order appears on the civil docket, but it resembles a criminal conviction because it shows a finding of "abuse," which generally cannot be expunged once you have a hearing on the merits of your case. Thus, the key hearing happens when the court seeks to determine whether the temporary PFA will become permanent. You need to be prepared. A qualified attorney can provide crucial assistance at this time. Prepration For Court. Your lawyer will tell you how to prepare for the hearing. The statements you make on the record in your hearing can be used against you for dozens of years into the future. That is to say, at the hearing, you will give testimony in matters involving your personal behavior. This can be used against you in the future in any capacity: a custody dispute, divorce, criminal matter, or even a civil case where you are suing for money in a totally unrelated matter. Get Help, Now. We have seen too many people go into a PFA hearing without counsel of their own present, only to call us about filing an appeal to the superior court, but the damage is already done. The superior court will give deference to the lower court's decision in most instances. An adverse ruling in a PFA case can haunt you for manyl years. First of all, the PFA can last as long as three years. Plus, you will have a criminal record, of sorts. This is not the time to be your own lawyer, especially if the other side is using this as a custody grab on an excuse to kick you out of the primary residence. We Give You Options. In each case, our attorneys try to negotiate with the litigant or lawyer on the other side of the case to bring about the most reasonable resolution of every case. If that does not work, we will prepare your case for a hearing and make sure that you are prepared to give testimony that will have the best change of your succeeding on the PFA and also do the least harm to you and your interests long afer the PFA hearing takes place. Our Experience. Attorney Todd W. Elliott obtained experience with PFA orders right out of law school. He worked for the courts and made the threshold determination whether the court should grant a temporary PFA (Protection from Abuse Act) order pending a hearing. Since then, Attorney Elliott has practiced law for over ten years, handling dozens of PFA cases in Beaver and Allegheny County (Pittsburgh). He has had great success getting PFA issues resolve through no contact orders or other agreemetns that spare a hearing and preserve the client's ability to fight custody and other issues in the future. |
What Can You Lose? The PFA Act gives the court broad discretion to prevent abuse and to correct financial hardships on the allegedly "abused" party. The Act also allows the court's to enter custody orders, child support orders, take away weapons, and host of other servere penalties that make it advisable that you meet with an attorney and evaluate your strategy in trying to "beat" a PFA. If you go to court and lose, you risk the court ordering all the above penalties available against you under the Act, plus your risk creating a transcript of testimony about your tendency to "abuse" that can be used against you in other matters. Be reluctant to consent to any type of PFA order unless your attorney helps draft the terms of the consent order and advises you that consent is the most realistic option. |
Divorce (no-fault, contested, and uncontested) Support Child support, Spousal Support, APL Custody Child custody, delinquency PFA Protection from abuse, spousal assault and other crimes General Practice Areas |
Serving Allegheny, Beaver, and Washington Counties. |
Legal Links: Law libraries Beaver County http://www.co.beaver.pa.us/lawlibrary/ http://library.lawschool.cornell.edu/ Local rules: http://www.co.beaver.pa.us/Courts/local%20rules/localrules.htm Pennsylvania, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania for "lawyers": lawyer referral: http://www.bcba-pa.org/lrs.asp Lawyer and attorney http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawyer "attorneys" and bar members: http://www.bcba-pa.org/members_bar.asp |
Our family law practice handles divorce (fault and no fault). Each attorney at our firm handles claims for child custody (grandparent, parent, father, mother, step parent, interstate), dependency hearings, PFA (protection from abuse), support (spousal support, alimony pendente lite, child support), prenuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, and adoption. Our Pittsburgh family law attorneys always work with opposing counsel to bring your divorce, support, or custody matter to an efficient and reasonable resolution. We'll look at the relative income of each party involved in your case get a fair sense of the support obligation. Emotions often run high during a family law dispute, so why prolong the situation or make it more difficult (or expensive) than it needs to be? Why spend more on legal fees for divorce, alimony, spousal support, or child custody than necessary? We suggest that you rely on an experienced family law attorney who will seek an agreement and early resolution of all support (APL and spousal), child custody and divorce matters when possible. |
Locations: Beaver County http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_County,_Pennsylvania Beaver County Area http://www.beavercountychamber.com/ Beaver County Courty System http://www.co.beaver.pa.us/Courts/JurorsInstructions.htm Pittsburgh sites, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh Pittsburgh area http://www.pittsburgkschamber.com/ http://www.lawlib.duq.edu/, City of Pittsburgh http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/ Pittsburgh Law Department http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/law/ Allegheny County http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/ Pennsylvania court system http://www.courts.state.pa.us/ Greensburg, http://www.city.greensburg.pa.us/ Westmoreland County Bar Association http://www.westbar.org/ Westmoreland County Court System http://www.co.westmoreland.pa.us/ Uniontown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniontown,_Pennsylvania Washington bar Lawrence County Bar, http://www.lawrencecountylawyers.com/images/localrules.pdf Washington County Courts http://www.co.washington.pa.us/index.aspx Washington County Children and Youth http://www.co.washington.pa.us/maindepartment.aspx?menuDept =109 http://www.co.washington.pa.us/downloads/262.pdf |
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Our experienced Pittsburgh lawyers handle family law, divorce, support, custody, PFA, and visitation claims in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, and Washington Counties for reasonable fees. |
Family Law: Family Law Court Beaver County http://www.co.beaver.pa.us/Juvenile/custody.htm Divorce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce http://www.lawyers.com/Divorce/browse-by-location.html?site=731& CMP=KAC-731A http://www.panzerfamilylaw.com/ Divorce forms: http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-forms/ Law governing families in Pennsylvania: http://members.aol.com/StatutesPA/23.html Family law, divorce, support: http://family.findlaw.com/ Divorce and property: http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-property/divorce-commun al-property.html Seperate property, non-marital: http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-property/divorce-separate -property.html Divorce assets: http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-property/divorce-hidden-a ssets.html Divorce Laws in Pennsylvania: http://members.aol.com/StatutesPA/23.html Equitable Distribution: http://www.mbr-law.com/equitabledistribution.htm http://family.findlaw.com/marriage/marriage-more/couples-ownersh ip.html Support Obligations: http://www.pennglazier.com/support2006/support.html#Note_3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_support http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/231/chapter1910/s1910.16-4.ht ml http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/231/chapter1910/s1910.16-2.ht ml |
Support Law: http://www.mbr-law.com/custodysupport.htm#child%20support Support laws in Pennsylvania: http://members.aol.com/StatutesP4/23.Cp.43B.html Alimony claim: http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-alimony/ Claim for spousal support: http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-alimony/alimony-defi nition.html Alimony pendente lite http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-alimony/temporary-a limony.html Child Custody: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_custody Popular sites: http://www.srislawyer.com/PracticeAreas/CHILD-CUSTODY.asp Child Custody in Beaver County http://www.co.beaver.pa.us/Juvenile/custody.htm Beaver County Children and Youth Center http://www.co.beaver.pa.us/CYS/Direct.htm Custody of Children Laws in Pennsylvania: http://members.aol.com/StatutesPA/23.Cp.53.html http://www.co.beaver.pa.us/lawlibrary/Child_custody.htm http://www.co.beaver.pa.us/lawlibrary/forms/Custody_CertifOf Readiness.pdf Adoption laws in Pennsylvania: http://members.aol.com/StatutesPA/23.Cp.25.html Allegheny County Children Youth Services http://www.alleghenycounty.us/dhs/cyf.aspx |
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