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Three related issues were addressed by the Superior Court last month in SMC v. WPC, 2012 PA Super 92 (April 24, 2012). First, the Superior Court held that evidence of post-separation misconduct rising to the level of indignities is not sufficient to establish a defense to spousal support unless it sheds light upon similar misconduct prior to separation. More specifically, the Court affirmed a decision not to deny spousal support to […]

With a breathtaking sweep of their pens (or keyboards), four Justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week swept away decades of decisional law concerning paternity by estoppel, ushering a new era of parentage litigation, in KEM v. PCS, No. 67 MAP 2011 (February 21, 2012). The facts were relatively simple and commonplace: a married woman had an affair resulting in the birth of a child, who was four years […]

The child support guidelines were amended in December 2011, when the Supreme Court Domestic Relations Rules Committee enacted Rule 1910.11(d)(3). The new rule, which is targeted at cases where one or both parties are unrepresented, requires the court to perform a calculation of the child support guidelines even if the parents have an agreement. The Rule was not intended to thwart settlements between parents, but “so that they can enter […]

Under the Pennsylvania support guidelines, parents (and spouses who are receiving support) may be entitled to receive reimbursement of their medical expenses that were not paid by insurance, including copayments, deductibles, prescription and over-the-counter medications, and other out-of-pocket medical, dental and optical expenses. Generally the parent or spouse receiving support is required to pay the first $250 per year per person, but any expenses in excess of that threshold are […]

For the third time in several months, a panel of the Superior Court has considered whether to require litigants to plead specific grounds for modification of child support. Each time the Court has favored a less-restrictive policy, but dissenting opinions in these cases indicate a difference of opinion among the Superior Court jurists. In Summers v. Summers, 2012 PA Super 3 (1/5/2012), Judge Strassberger refused to overturn the trial court’s […]

The latest episode of my podcast, Making Divorce Easier, deals with an issue that arises frequently in child support proceedings. Calculating child support requires knowing your net available income under Pennsylvania support guidelines. This podcast will discuss the differences between take-home pay and net available income. Can you rely on your paystub to calculate child support? This episode answers that question.