At the risk of appearing obsessed, I write a second time about the separation of Jeff and Makenzie Bezos. This time my subject is again borrowed from the Wall Street Journal, but it’s not about the money. Rather, the Journal produced a prominent and adulatory article about the divorce announcement by the couple (actually Jeff)
separation
Separation Does Not Equate Unfitness of a Parent
By Aaron Weems on
Posted in Custody, Practice Issues
My colleague, Mark Ashton, reported on the case of D.P. & B.P. v. G.J.P. & A.P., and identified how the Court’s opinion addressed on a limited basis how Section 3525(2) was, in part, unconstitutional by placing an unreasonable restriction on the parents to raise the children as they deem appropriate, including restricting the children’s…
General Assembly Reduces No Fault Separation to 1 Year
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Divorce, Practice Issues
On September 26, the Pennsylvania Senate returned to session and adopted amendments to the Pennsylvania Divorce Code that reduced the period by which a party can secure a no-fault divorce on the basis of irretrievable breakdown from two years to one. The bill is awaiting signature by Governor Wolf.
When first enacted in 1980 the…
Berry Interesting; The Berry-Martinez Divorce Slips Into Neutral
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Divorce, Practice Issues
This author is not much for the world of Hollywood although this law firm does have an office there. But in reviewing the general news of the day, the screen divulged that the divorce involving Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez is now on hold, nine months after that party started.
This is a new phenomenon…
ADVICE TO PSYCHOLOGISTS: TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND CALL THE LAWYER IN THE MORNING
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Divorce
Part 1 of 2
After a recent meeting, my colleague Julie Manser and I were discussing what it must be like to be a mental health practitioner in an age of frequent divorce. Clients commonly ask us questions that are better posed to people with degrees in psychology and psychiatry and we often hear from…
ASSET OR INCOME; THE DISABILITY POLICY CONUNDRUM
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Equitable Distribution
Since the inception of equitable distribution in Pennsylvania on July 1, 1980 the law has consistently been that courts have power to divide marital property. With certain exceptions for gifts and inheritances, marital property is all property “acquired” from the date a couple marries to the date they finally separate 23 Pa.C.S. 3501(a). The challenge…
BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO: A GUIDE FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Divorce
The immediate prompt for this brief article is the report on February 23, 2013 that Tiger Woods and his ex -wife Elin Nordegren were spotted at an event where they spoke together not for 30 seconds but 30 minutes. In one sense this is not newsworthy at all but during the week, I had a …
4 THINGS NOT TO PUT IN YOUR ONLINE DATING PROFILE DURING A DIVORCE
By Fox Rothschild LLP on
Posted in Divorce
While reading a press release by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers this afternoon, I realized individuals in the midst of a divorce regularly receive warnings about what is acceptable and safe to post on Facebook and what might get them in trouble. They also receive advice from their counsel about when it is appropriate to …
LONG TERM SEPARATION: THE “UNDIVORCED”
By Aaron Weems on
Posted in Divorce
The New York Times ran an interesting article on long term separations – or the “un-divorced” as the writer, Pamela Paul calls it – as an alternative to divorces. It raises some interesting points about the benefits – and the complications – of a long term separation. In a state such as Pennsylvania, where separation can …
SOME FREE ADVICE ABOUT MARRIAGE COUNSELING
By Mark Ashton on
Posted in Divorce
Every once in a while, a good deed does not go unpunished. About a month ago I received a call from an acquaintance with whom I worked performing community work several years ago. Could she stop in and chat? As one might expect, people do not just stop in to “chat” with divorce lawyers without …