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The Superior Court this week heard the plea of a Vietnam Veteran who argued that the increase in value of his VA benefits, which had been deposited into an investment portfolio prior to marriage, should retain the exempt character of the underlying VA benefits, which may not be divided in equitable distribution. One cannot imagine a fact pattern more perfect than that Goodemote v. Goodemote, 2012 PA Super 94 (May 1, 2012). […]

A recent Superior Court decision, Childress v. Bogosian, 2011 WL 61616 (2011), illustrates the challenge of tracing nonmarital property in divorce. Under Pennsylvania law, the property owned by a spouse prior to marriage, or acquired by gift or inheritance during the marriage, or acquired after separation, is generally nonmarital property if it has not been converted into marital property by re-titling it in joint names. Still, the law creates a […]

A thorny issue that arises early in many divorce proceedings is the question of who may live in the marital residence during the separation period. Generally speaking, the courts will not evict either spouse from the marital residence during separation if they are living together peacefully and have not voluntarily moved away. This principle leads some devious spouses to seek questionable or even fraudulent protection from abuse (PFA) orders. Spouses who […]

Divorcing spouses often ask me about credit card debts and loans. While a divorce court may assign responsibility for paying credit card debts and loans that were incurred during the marriage, the court generally lacks jurisdiction over the creditors. In other words, the divorce court cannot force the credit card issuer to collect from one particular spouse if both spouses were cardholders. If both spouses’ names are on the credit […]

An article published recently in USA Today reports that prenuptial agreements are more acceptable today to couples who are engaged than at any time in the past. Nearly one-third of single adults say they would ask a significant other to sign a prenup, according to a February survey of 2,323 adults by Harris Interactive. Only 3% of folks with a spouse or fiancée have a prenuptial agreement, but that’s up […]

By letting the media firestorm subside, Woods might be able to preserve his valuable sponsorships, at least for a while. Given the stakes, wouldn’t it make sense to throw a little money her way?