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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. |
Our family law attorneys in Pittsburgh handle divorce (fault and no fault), 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. Get a lawyer who will will attend your child support conference or hearing and will work with opposing counsel to bring your divorce, claim for support, or child custody matter to an efficient and reasonable resolution. Our Pittsburgh attorneys will handle your prenuptial agreement or the dissolution of your marriage and we will get agressive with a petition for contempt when needed following an order for divorce, alimony, spousal support, or child custody than necessary. Emotions will be running high during your family law issue, why prolong the situation or make it more expensive than it needs to be? We suggest that you rely on an experienced family law lawyer who has respesented a husband or a wife in prior cases and can see the issue from all sides. Your lawyer should look for an early resolution of all calims for support (APL and spousal), child custody and other family law and divorce matters when possible. We have offices in Pennsylvania: Allegheny County, Beaver County, and Washington County, serving Pittsburgh, McKees Rocks, Ross, Bellevue, Avalon, Sewickely, Shaler, Monroeville, Monongahela, Moon, Fox Chapel, Oakmont, Ross (North Hills), Evans City, McCandless, Brighton Heights, the Monroeville areas. We also handle cases throughout Beaver County, including Monaca, Hopewell, Ambridge, Center Township, Aliquippa, and Beaver Falls. Schedule an appointment today for a lawyer to protect your rights. |
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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. |
412.780.0008 |
Question Everything. You need to make a solid case for why you believe the spousal support or child support payment should be a certain number. It is true that a support obligation is always modifiable, but the courts will not want to hear from you every week to say why you think the numbers should change. Typically, a support obligation will not be modified absent a "change in circumstances." Hence, early on, you need to plan for a fight in court and question every piece of evidence the opposing party planls to offer on the matter of calculating support. Future Consequences. An order determining a support obligation can have long range future consequences. Hence, you want to make sure that the order takes into account all relavent facts. Your decision to retain an attorney may prove to be an excellent investment to protect your long term interests. Issues to Consider. The key issue in every support case is earning capacity, not how much a party actually makes. We evaluate for our clients exactly how much support is owed by looking at earning capacity. In some cases, you will need expert testimony but you will first need an order from the court deeming the court "complex" before you can do discovery. In other cases, it will be a waste of time and money to deem a case complex. You should have an attorney tell you what kind of case you're facing. Basic Types of Support. What are the basic types of support? (1) SPOUSAL SUPPORT. Prior to the filing for divorce, a spouse who no longer resides with the other spouse can make a claim for spousal support. There are certain defenses to the payment of spousal support. For example, a party may be barred from receiving spousal support if that party cause the dissolution of the marriage through cheating or infidelity. We can help you with this and look at the relative income of each party to make a solid prediction of the amount payable. (2) APL, or Alimony Pendite Lite. This is a form of spousal support that exists during divorce proceedings, i.e., once a party files for divorce. There are virtually no defenses to APL. Simply put, APL, is a form of alimony to compensate the dependent party while the divorce and equitable distribution are going on. We can give you an estimate of the expected amount to be paid for APL and you also need to know the different tax implications for APL versus spousal support (such as whether the payment constitutes income to the payee or a tax deduction for the payor). (3) ALIMONY. Once a divorce is finalized and a decree is entered, the obligation to pay support is called alimony. We will evaluate any claim for alimony, which is a form of support following a divorce and equitable distribution. We will look at whether the dependent party has an immediate obligtion to finish school or otherwise work to avoid making a claim for long term alimony; (3) CHILD SUPPORT. Our Pitsburgh attorneys can tell you the likely amount of child support to be paid, which will depend on factors beyond simply the number of children. As with spousal support (above), we can discuss with you interstate and other complex issues in the area of child support. |
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-communal-propert y.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-assets.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-ownership.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.html http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/231/chapter1910/s1910.16-2.html Child 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-definition.html Alimony pendente lite http://family.findlaw.com/divorce/divorce-alimony/temporary-alimony.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_CertifOfReadiness.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 |
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 |
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Elliott & Davis, PC 425 First Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Fax: 412.774.2168 412.780.0008 |
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412.780.0008 |