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Under federal tax laws, alimony payments are deductible, but only if they meet all of the legal requirements. One of the most important requirements is that alimony payments must be paid in connection with a “divorce or separation instrument,” which means a written agreement or court order. Any payment that is not made under a divorce or separation instrument is not tax deductible, even if the written agreement or court […]

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that the IRS generally will not consider divorce as a good excuse for being late in filing income tax returns. In Cayabyab v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2012-89 (2012), the taxpayer did not file his 2006 federal income tax return by the deadline (April 15, 2007). The IRS sent him a letter in September 2009, requesting that he file his 2006 return, which was already overdue […]

Custody relocation cases are among the hardest decisions that judges face. When parents cross state lines to relocate, the courts must decide which judge has jurisdiction, before addressing the substantive question of where the children will live. These issues were met head-on by Superior Court Judge Eugene Strassberger, of Allegheny County, in M.E.V. v. R.D.V., 2012 PA Super 233 (October 23, 2012). A good decision conveys a satisfying sense of justice and […]

The Superior Court recently issued its opinion in Orfield v. Weindel, 2012 PA Super 135  (June 29, 2012), in which it held that the trial court erred by imposing a six month prison sentence upon a father who had not paid child support in over two years. The principle enunciated by the opinion is not new – that the court cannot jail a parent who is delinquent in his child support […]

In April, the Pennsylvania Legislature enacted amendments to a law that grants custody rights to families of servicemembers during military deployments. The new law, which is published at 51 Pa.C.S. § 4109, authorizes our courts to temporarily transfer a servicemember’s custody rights to other members of the servicemember’s family during a deployment in support of a contingency operation. To transfer their custody rights, servicemembers must petition the court along with the […]

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). […]