Child support payments may either be ordered by the court in a divorce decree or legal separation agreement or mutually agreed upon by the parties. Several laws exist which are designed to make child support orders readily enforceable across the United States. However, despite such efforts, “dead-beat dads,” or parents who consistently fail to make support payments in full or at all, continue their delinquencies. As a result, there are further measures available for the collection of child support payments. Continue Reading Falling Behind on Child Support Payments

Congress enacted the Child Support Recovery Act (CSRA) on October 25, 1992. Under the CSRA, the willful failure to pay support for a child living in another state constitutes a federal crime. The past due child support obligation must be either greater than $5,000 or must have remained unpaid for more than one year. Continue Reading The U.S. Department of Justice Implements the CSRA

Only for the rich??
A common misconception is that a premarital agreement is only for the wealth few. In reality they are for anyone who may have a concern about losing control of their property when a resulting marriage occurs, and this also includes those who were previously married and folks that own their own business! Continue Reading Premarital Agreements-Items to Keep in Mind!

An increasingly large portion of the assets of married couples consist of rights to payments and stock from pension plans. In many states such assets are subject to division during a divorce. Divorce and division of property are generally controlled by state law, but pension plans are controlled by federal law in many respects.

Pension Plans and ERISA
A major advantage of saving for retirement through a pension plan is that contributions from employees and employers for plans such as a 401(k) plan are not taxed as income until distributed by the plan, usually after retirement, at lower tax rates. However, under provisions of the Federal Internal Revenue Code, the assignment of pension benefits, including transfers to a spouse during divorce, may result in the loss of such tax benefits.

In 1984, Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which governs most private pension plans (government and some other plans are not covered, nor are IRAs). To remedy the anti-assignment problem, the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (REA) amended ERISA to establish an exception to the anti-assignment bar to division of ERISA plan benefits during divorce. Continue Reading Tax Pitfalls in Dividing Pensions During a Divorce

In June 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court declared a law that regulated the sale and advertising of contraceptives unconstitutional. In this noteworthy opinion, the Court addressed the constitutional protection afforded to decisions related to childbearing.

Background
At issue in this case was a New York statute that made all of the following activities a crime:
For any person to sell or distribute any contraceptive of any kind to a minor under the age of 16 years
For anyone other than a licensed pharmacist to distribute contraceptives to persons 16 or older
For anyone, including licensed pharmacists, to advertise or display contraceptives
A corporation that sold non-medical contraceptive devices challenged the constitutionality of the statute. On appeal, the issue was ultimately resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fundamental Right of Privacy
The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution to contain protections for certain fundamental rights. Various privacy rights, including, for example, decisions related to marriage, sexual relations, abortion and childrearing, are fundamental rights. In this case, the Court reiterated that “[t]he decision whether or not to beget or bear a child is at the very heart of this cluster of constitutionally protected choices.” Continue Reading Noteworthy Supreme Court Case Declares Statute Regulating Contraceptives Unconstitutional

Upon divorce, all debts, property and assets must be divided between the spouses according to applicable percentages set by state law. In equitable distribution states, the court divides marital property (or property acquired during the marriage) according to what is “equitable” or “fair.” In community property states, the court will divide marital property in equal shares, or fifty-fifty. In general, retirement benefits are classified as “property” and are thus subject to division in the event of a divorce.

Defined Benefit Plans
Generally, a “defined benefit plan” is a retirement plan that will provide monthly income benefits which become payable upon retirement. Defined benefit plans use a formula to calculate the retirement allowance based on certain set factors such as age, years of service and salary. As such, these plans are more restrictive. Defined benefit plans are designed to allow for a member to receive their retirement benefits for the rest of their lifetime. They can be in the form of government pensions, union pensions or company pensions Continue Reading Retirement Benefit Distribution Upon Divorce

Although the law with respect to child support modification varies considerably by state, generally, before a court will modify a child support order, the requesting parent is often required to show that changed circumstances legitimately warrant the modification. Without this requirement, frequent, repeated and arbitrary requests for modification would burden the already overcrowded court system, as well as the non-custodial parent.

The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act

While some states have implemented child support modification standards derived from judicial decisions, other states have implemented statutory provisions that closely resemble the language set forth by the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (UMDA). According to the text of the UMDA, a child support order may be modified, with few exceptions, “only upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make the terms unconscionable.” Consider the following examples of state legislation:

Arizona: “Substantial and continuing change of circumstances”
Idaho: “Substantial and material change of circumstances”
Pennsylvania: “Material and substantial change in circumstances”
Typically, the parent requesting the modification has the burden of proving the change in circumstances.

California’s highest court was asked Tuesday to create a legal framework for what constitutes a family as justices weighed parental rights for lesbian couples who broke up after having children.

The state Supreme Court, hearing oral arguments in the cases of three women seeking child custody or support from their former partners, pondered whether children from same-sex households should be treated the same under the law as out-of-wedlock offspring of heterosexuals.

Attorneys for some of the women and the California attorney general argued that children should be given the same protections they would have with two traditional parents, since gays cannot marry and may have legitimate reasons for not registering as domestic partners or formally adopting their children.

They urged the court to apply long-standing laws governing absent fathers to estranged gay and lesbian couples who used reproductive science to conceive, a practice that leaves one partner without a genetic link to the family.

Frequently, as a result of a change in circumstances, parents seek to modify child support orders. Although the law varies considerably among states, delaying or failing to modify child support to reflect current circumstances can have a serious impact on both parents (whether recipient or payor) and children. Continue Reading Practical Considerations Regarding Child Support Modification

Adoption is the process by which an adult becomes the legal parent of an individual who is not their biological child. A finalized adoption severs all legal ties between the child and the natural parents, thereby terminating all parental rights. However, adoption also creates new obligations on the part of the adoptive parents. The new parent-child relationship establishes legal responsibility for child support, rights to an inheritance and/or custody. Typically, adoption laws vary by state and there are several different types or forms of adoption including agency and independent adoption Continue Reading Agency and Independent Domestic Adoption