National Child Support Awareness Month

August is National Child Support Awareness Month. President Clinton began the month of recognition in 1995 as part of his welfare reform agenda. The goal was to improve the collection of child support payments by widening the use of sanctions including wage garnishment and suspending driver’s licenses and passports for parents with child support arrears. As of today in Pennsylvania, wage garnishment is virtually always utilized to ensure child support payments can be collected. Garnishments apply not only to the typical income which would be received from an employer, but also to social security and/or veterans benefits. Other methods of securing support payments include intercept of tax return refunds and even lottery winnings. Imprisonment is also a widely available sanction in the context of enforcement of child support obligations.

There has been backlash ever since President Clinton advocated for taking a tougher stance on non-paying parents. For one, the demands of child support are sometimes greater than the paying parent’s actual income. Or, support obligations pile up because the child support obligation does not automatically readjust to account for periods of disability, unemployment or incarceration of the paying parent. However, single parents do need the help of the other parent to provide a comfortable lifestyle for their child(ren). Seven states have joined in a pilot program that focuses on fostering financial stability for the paying parent so that they will be able to meet their support obligation without ending up destitute themselves. Hopefully, a balance can be struck between the seemingly competing interests of adequately providing for children as well as some financial reserve for the paying parent.

Click here to read more on Child Support

by

Paternity in Family Law

When an unmarried woman has a child, paternity will need to be established before a father can be listed on the birth certificate, before the mother can seek support from the father and/or before standing for custody can be established. Establishing paternity can be as simple as the father executing an acknowledgment of paternity. The acknowledgment indicates the father is waiving his rights to any genetic testing or trial on the issue of paternity. If a father is unwilling to execute an acknowledgment or is simply unsure of the paternity of the child, genetic testing can be conducted so that the DNA results can be examined. Both parents will be ordered to participate in genetic testing. Failure to appear by the father can result in a court order declaring him as the father by default. Failure to appear by the mother can result in the court dismissing an action for support. Tests results alone are not sufficient to establish paternity. Instead, the parties must stipulate in writing that the test results prove paternity or the court must make an order on paternity after reviewing the test results.

Once an acknowledgment of paternity is signed, it is very difficult for a father to then try to allege the child is not his. An acknowledgment acts as conclusive evidence that the person who signed the acknowledgment is in fact the father of any subject child(ren). A court order on paternity will follow if the results indicate 99% probability of paternity. If paternity is established by court order, the decision is generally not immediately appealable. Instead, the appropriate time to appeal on the issue of paternity would be after a subsequent final child support or custody order. There is one exception to this rule based on paternity by estoppel. Paternity by estoppel recognizes a man as the father based on his role in the child’s life rather than the biological connection. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has recognized that paternity by estoppel is immediately appealable so as to protect the established parent-child relationship. In the most recent case, genetic testing proved that a child born to a married woman was not her husband’s child but rather the product of an affair. The paramour tried to file for custody and genetic testing proved he was the father however the court would not allow the custody order to go into effect due to the fact the husband had raised the child all along.

by

Contempt of Court

Be it divorce, custody or support, once a court order is put in place, any violation of that court order can be considered contempt. For example, if a custody order provides that the parents are to exchange custody every Wednesday and the exchange never occurs to the fault of one party, the faulting party is in contempt. The consequences of being held in contempt can vary. 23 Pa. C.S. 5323 (g) regarding contempt of custody provides for any one of the following as punishment: imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, a fine not to exceed $500, probation for a period not to exceed six months; and/or counsel fees and costs. In practice, based on the severity of the case, the Judge may just give a verbal warning or may suspend custody until the court order is complied with.

Contempt of a support order occurs when a party fails to keep up with their support hearing. At a support contempt hearing, the non-compliant party will have an opportunity to explain why they are not current with their support. In the event they are unemployed, the court may inquire into why they are not working, their physical ability or inability to work, and what attempts to find employment have been made. There may be contempt of an order in a divorce matter both while the divorce is still pending and after the divorce. For example, if one party succeeds in getting exclusive possession of the home during the divorce and the other party attempts to re-enter the home, there is a basis for contempt. Post-divorce contempt usually involves one party failing to follow through with their obligations under a settlement agreement or divorce judgment.

 

by

Protection From Abuse

A party may file a Protection from Abuse petition in the event of abuse, meaning physical violence or the threat thereof as well as stalking or any other course of conduct which would place a person in fear of bodily injury. A Protection from Abuse (PFA) petition requires the petitioner to identify the defendant, state the incidents constituting the “abuse” as well as any prior history of similar incidents, provide notice of any weapons involved, and set out the relief requested. Depending on the nature and severity of the allegations, a temporary PFA order may be put in place almost immediately to prohibit contact between the parties until a full hearing can be held. Often a hearing will be held in approx. 7-10 days if not sooner. The petitioner must ensure the Defendant is served with the Petition, Notice of Hearing and temporary order, if applicable, prior to the hearing. The local sheriff can be contacted to effectuate the service.

At the hearing, the party pursuing a PFA order must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that some “abuse”, as defined above, occurred. A preponderance of the evidence means more likely than not. Remedies for a successful PFA petition can include having the Defendant removed from a residence that was previously shared, restrictions on contact for up to 3 years, either directly or indirectly, relinquishment of firearms or other weapons, reimbursement for related expenses or out of pocket costs suffered, temporary support, and in some cases, a custody schedule. It is possible to list multiple persons in need of protection under a single PFA petition including children, if applicable. Violations of PFA result in criminal charges depending on the nature of the violation.

More on Protection from Abuse

by