Having a Family Law attorney on your side can provide great benefits to those going through a divorce and/or custody matters. Hiring an attorney to work out property distribution, alimony, custody, etc. can make a huge difference during some of the most difficult times in one’s life. Our Attorneys will assist in providing communication between the opposing party and potentially opposing counsel when it comes to negotiating some of the most complex aspects of a client’s living situation. Additionally, Latoison Law will provide you with experience-based advice on how the court tends to handle various family law matters. Whether you find yourself in a tumultuous divorce with a previous significant other or a long-lasting battle over child custody, Latoison Law will provide you with the advice you need to properly assess the situation and make the right decisions, while negotiating on your behalf throughout the entire process.
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HOW CAN I GET A DIVORCE IN PENNSYLVANIA?
In Pennsylvania, you can get divorced if you and/or you spouse has lived in the state for at least six months prior to filing the Complaint for Divorce. If you meet the residency requirement, then the next step would be to determine whether to file for a no-fault divorce or a fault-based divorce.
No-fault Divorce Grounds:
- Abandonment without reasonable cause
- Adultery
- Cruel and barbarous treatment (e.g. domestic violence)
- Bigamy
- Imprisonment
- Acts of which have made the person’s life intolerable or extremely difficult
Fault-based Divorce Grounds:
- Mutual consent
- Irretrievably broken marriage
- Institutionalization
WHERE CAN I FILE FOR DIVORCE?
You can file for divorce in the county:
- Where the defendant lives;
- If the defendant resides outside of the state, where the plaintiff resides;
- Where the parties lived prior to separation and where the plaintiff has continuously resided in the county;
- Prior to six months after the date of final separation and with agreement of the defendant, where the plaintiff resides or, if neither party continues to reside in the county of matrimonial domicile, where either party resides
- After six months after the date of final separation, where either party resides.
23 Pa.C.S.A. § 3301(a); 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 3301(b)-(e); 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 3104(b)
ALTERNATIVES TO SUING FOR DIVORCE IN COURT?
Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution which can prove to be a valuable tool in divorce proceedings, namely property division, support and custody. Not all cases are appropriate for mediation. If there is history of domestic violence or if the parties do not have the ability to discuss the divorce in a somewhat-amicable fashion, then mediation cannot be used. However, where parties can discuss some or all of the aspects of their divorce in a mature fashion, then mediation can prove an invaluable source. For one, it gives the parties, not the courts, the ability to have a say in how they ultimately live their lives post-divorce. Second, it often saves the parties a substantial sum of money that they would otherwise have to pay their divorce attorneys for litigation the matter through the courts. In all, mediation, if appropriate, should be considered in divorce.
