The Blog
Changing and Retaking Prior Names and Pennsylvania Divorce
It is both common and understandable for divorce clients and non-lawyers, in general, to toss around interchangeably the terms "name change" and "take back a prior name" when deciding to begin a low-cost, simple, uncontested, no-fault, Pennsylvania divorce. But...
Is A Pennsylvania Divorce Decree Valid Everywhere?
This does not come up often, but when it does, I find it very striking. Over the decades, two or three clients have asked me whether or not their Pennsylvania divorce would be valid if they were to leave the USA on vacation or if they moved out of the USA permanently....
Retirement Funds and Pennsylvania Divorce
Everything that accumulates in the course of a marriage is fair game to be divided up when the decision is made to end the marriage. In Pennsylvania, we have equitable distribution of marital assets. Equitable means economically fair and that may or may not be equal....
How Long Is The Waiting Period In A Pennsylvania Divorce?
I have had people get married on Saturday and contact me the following Monday about beginning a divorce. On the other hand, I have had couples separated for as long as fifty-eight years before the decision to file a divorce was made. Therefore, it can be stated that...
I’m Not in PA But My Spouse Is, But I Don’t Know Where
Over the decades, many people have contacted me from outside of Pennsylvania. They had read on my website that they could get a low-cost, simple, uncontested, no-fault divorce if their spouses were in Pennsylvania. The problem was that they "knew" that their spouses...
What Name Should I Use In My Divorce?
A divorce is a formal legal action filed in a court of law. Accordingly, the parties to the action - the couple getting divorced - must be identified properly and legally on the court documents. Based upon my divorce practice dating back to several years before 1980...
Automatic Divorce in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania enabled no-fault divorce in 1980. Back then, if a couple was living separately and apart for three or more years, two things were different from situations with a shorter separation. First, such a divorce would not have the required 90 day waiting period...
When May You Get A Pennsylvania Annulment?
We have all heard different stories about how some people whom we may know, know of, or heard about, either firsthand or from someone other than one of the former spouses or even from TV, books or newspapers, or other writings, got an annulment instead of a divorce....
Do I Have To Get Divorced Where I Got Married?
It is a common misconception that a divorce has to be filed where the marriage took place. That is not the case and never has been! A divorce is a legal action. Legal actions may be filed only in the jurisdiction (your state, NOT your county) where one resides. By...
Transferring Car Title in a Pennsylvania Divorce
Even if real estate, the marital residence (or former marital residence if one party has moved out) has multiple mortgages, lines of credit or home equity loans and even if one is in such a home "upside-down", names can be added to or removed from the deed. The loans,...
