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Some clients and lawyers question why I am so meticulous in specifying certain details when I settle divorce cases. A recent unpublished decision of the Superior Court brilliantly illustrates the hazard of vague settlements involving marital property, justifying my fastidiousness. In Rissmiller v. Rissmiller, No. 124 MDA 2012 (February 26, 2013), Husband and Wife entered into a settlement agreement providing that Husband would convey half of the marital component of […]

“Be careful what you ask for. If you tell the authorities that your ex committed child abuse and cannot prove it, your credibility might be doubted when you really need it later.” That’s the advice I would give to the Father who successfully appealed in T.H. v. M.H., No. 1204 WDA 2011 (February 25, 2013), a non-precedential opinion of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. The Father in that case appealed […]

A recent grandparent custody case developed a schism among the judges of the Superior Court in an unpublished opinion, two judges voting in favor of the grandparents and one judge dissenting. In M.M. and M.M. v. A.M. and B.M., No. 2308 EDA 2012 (February 20, 2012), a custody dispute pitted the mother of an 8 year old child against the child’s grandparents, who had been Mother’s adoptive foster parents. The […]

In an unpublished decision, the Superior Court recently declined an invitation to rewrite a marital settlement agreement in order to avoid the possibility of future disputes over the use of funds committed to a children’s trust. In Hvidzak v. Hvidzak, No. 37 WDA 2012 (February 22, 2013), the Father and Mother entered into a marital settlement agreement in which they agreed to establish two trusts for the benefit of their […]

Perhaps grandparents and extended families have always played a major role in the rearing of children, but their involvement has become more prominent in an era of fractionalized and blended families. The Superior Court has enunciated the standards applicable to the custody rights of grandparents in a recent unpublished decision. In K.M. Jr. v. R.R., and J.L. and D.R., No. 1482 MDA 2012 (March 8, 2013), the father of a […]

Why does a parent agree to a “temporary” or “interim” custody order that allows the other parent to move away with the children, when he or she intends is fighting to win custody from the relocating parent? A wish for marital reconciliation might be one reason, or perhaps an effort to win favor with the court by appearing to be even-tempered and amiable. Maybe the parent left behind hasn’t lined […]