Divorce is a very difficult and emotionally challenging endeavor. Whether you are contemplating ending your marriage or you are ready to end it, it helps to understand your rights and responsibilities in separation or divorce. If you ultimately decide to get a divorce, you ought to seek the counsel of an attorney. Involving an experienced attorney as soon as possible in the divorce process is one of the best ways to preserve your long-term financial health.

Grounds for Divorce or No Fault Divorce

A divorce is the legal termination of marriage. From a legal standpoint, a divorce will give each person the legal right to marry someone else, divide the couple's assets and debts and determine the future care and custody of their children

In Pennsylvania, a person may either file a divorce based on specific grounds for divorce or may file a no fault divorce or both. A divorce based on grounds requires a spouse to identify a legal reason for requesting a divorce when filing the divorce papers with the court. There are eight statutory grounds for divorce in Pennsylvania, which may be pled depending on individual circumstances, the most common of which is indignities.

A party may also plead a "no fault" divorce. No fault divorce is a divorce proceeding where neither party is required to show fault. The family law attorneys at Kaminsky, Thomas, Wharton, Lovette & Vigna will be able to assist in analyzing your situation and help you determine whether to pursue a fault-based or no fault divorce.

Contested Divorce vs. Consent Divorce

Before a divorce may be granted, there are usually four basic issues that must be resolved:

    1) APL and Spousal support;
    2) Property division and Alimony; and, if there are children:
    3) Custody and Visitation; and
    4) Child support.

Consent Divorce - If a divorcing couple agrees on all of these issues in writing, it is possible to avoid adversarial divorce litigation and be granted a consent divorce.

Contested Divorce - Conversely, if there is disagreement on any of these issues, a contested divorce exists. This type of divorce may require a couple to proceed through all phases of litigation, including a hearing before a master.

Our experienced family law attorneys will be able to facilitate a consent divorce, ensuring it is done correctly, or protect your rights during each step of the divorce litigation process in a contested divorce.

The Litigation Process

A typical divorce litigation contains the following components:

• Complaint – The complaint initiates the divorce proceeding.
• Answer to Complaint – Your spouse will need to receive formal notice of the divorce proceeding filed against him or her. Your spouse may then be required to respond to your legal action.
• Motions – Throughout litigation a motion may be made. It is formal request to the court to order some type of action before the trial.
• Discovery – Discovery allows both parties to formally request information from the other. It is an important phase in contested actions, particularly if you believe your spouse may hide assets.
• Hearings – Hearings involve testimony from each party and other third party witnesses (friends, financial experts, psychologists, and teachers) in order for the master to fully understand contested issues and make an informed decision.
• Order – An order is simply a judge’s decision usually based upon a master’s findings and recommendations on all the issues in question during the hearing, such as custody, visitation, support and property division.
• Appeal – A judge’s order may be appealed to a higher court, if necessary.
   

Marital Property Division

Marital property is everything that a husband and wife own together from the start of their marriage until the date of separation. Both husband and wife are deemed to own all the money either one of them earns, all property acquired during the marriage, regardless of who purchased it, and any appreciation of non-marital property that occurred during the marriage. Similarly, any debts acquired during the marriage will be deemed to be marital debt regardless of which spouse actually incurred it.

Non-marital property is not included when determining property division. Depending on when the property was obtained or the manner in which the property was obtained could determine whether certain property is considered martial property or not. Because classification of property and its division is one of the most unsettled issues in a divorce, you ought to have the advice of an attorney

Alimony Pendente Lite, Alimony, and Spousal Support

Alimony Pendente Lite (APL) and spousal support, are two types of financial support paid by one spouse to another. The purpose of APL is to give each spouse an equal ability to pay for legal representation during the divorce proceedings. The award of APL is determined based on each party’s individual income. On the other hand, spousal support is based on whether a spouse is entitled to such a payment. Kaminsky, Thomas, Wharton, Lovette & Vigna will be able to assist you in obtaining the full amount of APL and spousal support that you are entitled.

Alimony – The amount of alimony that a court will award following a divorce varies depending on several statutory factors. Permanent alimony is an allowance for support awarded usually when a person cannot support him or herself and their spouse has sufficient means to provide for part or all of the need. Generally, this type of alimony is awarded when the marriage was of significant length. More likely, however, a spouse will only be entitled to alimony for a short period of time after the divorce. This type of alimony is designed to provide a spouse an opportunity to refresh or enhance job skills necessary to become self-sufficient by providing financial support while the spouse is obtaining the necessary training. Our attorneys will be able to recognize when alimony is appropriate and ensure that you receive the alimony necessary to provide for your needs after the divorce proceeding has terminated.