Slivinski Law Offices Assists Pennsylvania Families in Domestic Relations Issues
Nothing is more emotionally charged than family disputes, particularly those involving domestic relations. Highly-skilled domestic relations attorneys, Slivinski Law Offices’ attorneys understand the challenges families face when legal disputes or difficulties arise and we try to mitigate the devastation of a domestic relation issue with compassion as well as legal skill. Unfortunately, when a marriage dissolves or parents are separated, legal concerns regarding divorce and marriage rights must be addressed and legal assistance is required.
At Slivinski Law Offices, we bring our 40 years of legal experience to facilitate the fair dissolution of a marriage to see that couples reach an amicable settlement agreement with as little hostility and legal expense as possible. But, should our clients find themselves in a volatile situation, we’ll protect our client’s interests to provide legal support and counter any unreasonable demands with aggressive strategies of our own.
We Offer a Full Range of Domestic Relations Legal Representation to Pennsylvania Clients
Our domestic relations representation includes a full range of services in the following areas.
Child Support
An often-contentious issue in domestic relations law, child support laws in Pennsylvania, as in most states, are governed by a somewhat fixed formula and doesn’t always take into account the actual expenses each party pays in the way of child-related expenses. Some of the expenses that are considered include, but are not limited to: 1) number of children; 2) actual incomes and/or earning potentials; and 3) the percentage of time children are under the care and control of each parent.
Spousal Support
Pennsylvania has some spousal support guidelines that are taken into consideration when awarding spousal support or alimony. These guidelines take into consideration: 1) the ability for the spouse to provide for his/her own needs; 2) the ability for the spouse to be self-supporting through employment; 3) who has custody of the children; 4) need for education or training to become employed; 5) tax consequences; 6) the standard of living during the marriage; 7) length of the marriage; 8) financial resources of the spouse to live independently; 9) comparative salaries of the spouses; 10) needs and obligations of each party; 11) contribution of each spouse to the marriage; 12) ages of the spouses; 13) physical, mental, emotional conditions; 14) probable duration of need for support; 15) education level of each spouses; 16) conduct of the spouses during the marriage; 17) sources of income of each spouse; 18) marital misconduct; and 19) other factors considered by the court as pertinent. Spousal Support can be asked for when the parties separate, but no divorce has been filed.
APL (Alimony Pendent Lite)
Another form of support, APL allows both spouses to move forward with a divorce and remain on even financial footing. It is similar to Spousal Support, but does not permit the paying party to raise an entitlement defense. APL can become a complex issue requiring sound legal advice.
Alimony
Alimony is a monetary payment that may be awarded by a Court, taking into consideration the 19 factors above. Alimony is paid post-decree, meaning that the monetary payments continue even after the divorce is finalized. Like the other support issues, Alimony is complex and an individual should be aware of what his or her rights are concerning alimony.