Those of us from large firms sometimes read opinions where solo practitioners take a shot at an issue and force us to take notice. The facts in this Bucks County
Continue Reading PA. Supreme Court Affirms that “Contractual Expectancies” Are Gifts & Non Marital PropertyEquitable Distribution
FEAR, MONEY & MARKETS: As if Covid Isn’t Enough
By Mark Ashton on
People often ask divorce lawyers how they do it. My stock answer is that it’s like any other financial transaction, except that the transaction is wrapped in layers and layers…
Continue Reading FEAR, MONEY & MARKETS: As if Covid Isn’t EnoughRESPONDING TO THE DIVORCE WHERE ONE SPOUSE IS READY TO “BURN DOWN THE (FINANCIAL) HOUSE.”
By Mark Ashton on
Extreme times produce irrational responses. A day ago, an unhappy orthopedic patient in Oklahoma decided it was time to kill his surgeon. He took three other lives as well as…
Continue Reading RESPONDING TO THE DIVORCE WHERE ONE SPOUSE IS READY TO “BURN DOWN THE (FINANCIAL) HOUSE.”Divorce Financing Encounters A Turbulent Real Estate Market
By Mark Ashton on
At the end of the day, divorce is a financial transaction wrapped in complex human emotions. Part of the divorce lawyer’s mission is to try to gently unwrap the emotion…
Continue Reading Divorce Financing Encounters A Turbulent Real Estate Market
CONVEYANCES OF MARITAL PROPERTY INTO TRUSTS Superior Court Holds Such Gifts May Be Fraudulent
By Mark Ashton on
The Superior Court issued a non precedential decision on September 21 grappling with a question that has lingered since Pennsylvania adopted equitable distribution forty years ago. What happens to transfers…
Continue Reading CONVEYANCES OF MARITAL PROPERTY INTO TRUSTS Superior Court Holds Such Gifts May Be Fraudulent
THE TRAGIC CASE OF THE DANGLING DEBT
By Mark Ashton on
We live in an age when it is oh-so-easy to incur debt, sometimes without even knowing it. The moral of this story is that clients need to try to remember…
Continue Reading THE TRAGIC CASE OF THE DANGLING DEBT
Whaddaya Mean My Dead Ex is Getting A Cut of My Pension?
By Mark Ashton on
Defined benefit pensions, the ones that payout monthly, are strange animals. They are rare today except where unions and public agencies are found, and they can produce some odd results.
Continue Reading Whaddaya Mean My Dead Ex is Getting A Cut of My Pension?
MARITAL DEBT and Its Realities
By Mark Ashton on
The website MarketWatch publishes a kind of Dear Abby column related to family finances that touches on some very real subjects confronting families today. On July 2, columnist Quentin Fottrell…
Continue Reading MARITAL DEBT and Its Realities
CRYPTOCURRENCY BECOMES A REAL THREAT
By Mark Ashton on
In our last article, we wrote about hiding assets the old-fashioned way. For much of this writer’s career, the game was “cash”. The pizzeria, the auto body shop, the produce…
Continue Reading CRYPTOCURRENCY BECOMES A REAL THREAT
The Evidence of Cash Is Coming A Little Too “Laight”
By Mark Ashton on
This decision issued on a non-precedential basis on April 13, 2021, represents every divorce litigator’s nightmare. Unfortunately, the decision on appeal to remand the case offers the litigants a chance…
Continue Reading The Evidence of Cash Is Coming A Little Too “Laight”