Any American with a pulse knows that 2017 was to be the first overhaul of U.S. Tax Law since 1986. Until this week, what was circulating through Washington was an 18 page executive summary. That changed yesterday when the House Republican Tax Policy Committee circulated a draft bill that specified exactly what changes were being
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Can Divorcing Families Afford The “Sporting Life?”
By Mark Ashton on
The September 7 issue of TIME Magazine features our obsession with childhood sports. The statistics tell the story. In 2005, school age children played sports at a combined cost of about $8 billion per annum. Today that number is about $15 billion, almost double. And, during this same period there was no increase in the…
Look Under The Tree And There’s A Family Law Case Involving Evidence
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Practice Issues, Support
Not terribly exciting but evidence rulings are hard to find and ones where a family law ruling is reversed based on evidence used by the trial judge are especially rare.
Johnson v. Johnson 2016 Pa. Super. 294 is a published panel decision where the issue was whether Father needed to continue to support an adult…
Can There Be Too Much Child Support?
By Mark Ashton on
We live in a day when reported (i.e. precedential) decisions are rare and decisions touching upon important philosophical differences are like hen’s teeth. But on November 18 the planets aligned to give us Hanrahan v. Bakker, a 2-1 panel decision with Judges Ford Elliott and Dubow in the majority and Jenkins in dissent. The…
Would You Like Your Lawyer, A La Carte?
By Mark Ashton on
I was researching material for this blog when courtesy of some “cookie” embedded in a website, I was treated to an opportunity to save substantially on my divorce legal fees by signing on for a service that offered me “al a carte” divorce services by law firms standing by to help me without the “unnecessary”…
Listening to Your Kids During Traumatic Times
By Mark Ashton on
There are times when two conversations with two wholly separate individuals causes a person to distill some interesting new thoughts. Earlier this month I had lunch with a woman who has long run the intake program for the Domestic Relations Office in Chester County. We were discussing the triumphs and tragedies associated with the daily…
The Sloppy World Of Contempt Proceedings
By Mark Ashton on
We have written before about the subject of when and how a person can be in “contempt” of a court order. The word itself is riddled with often misunderstood meaning. What could be worse than having a court decide that you are contemptible?
In the past week I have been called to court to prosecute…
Understanding The Dependency Exemption Fight!
By Mark Ashton on
Having just finished one of these, I searched our database and noted that we had written very little about it.
In my case earlier this week, my adversary and I had been negotiating a child support order. After several rounds, we reached a mutually acceptable conclusion. When I wrote to confirm our “terms” I received…
Interest On Overdue Support Arrears; A Reform Worthy Of Real Consideration
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Practice Issues, Support
One of the things the Pennsylvania Bar Association makes a part of its mission is to review and, where appropriate, comment on legislation introduced for consideration by the General Assembly. These proposed laws cover a large swath of public policy territory. Earlier this year the legislature passed a bill creating a presumption of consent to…
The Guidelines are Coming!
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Practice Issues, Support
For those of you who practice in this area or are “regulars” in the child support system, you know that every four years, the statewide child support guidelines are due for an update. The purpose is to try to keep pace with the economic times and the cost of raising children. For the 2008 and…