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Separating from your spouse is overwhelming, especially for someone who is financially dependent on their partner. In Pennsylvania, the law allows a parent who exercises primary custody of a minor child or a parent who has shared custody but makes less money than the other party to file for child support. Similarly, while a divorce is pending, the lesser earning spouse might have a claim for spousal support or alimony […]

On December 31, 2018, the tax deduction for alimony will be ending under new federal tax laws.  If you are in the middle of a divorce, or thinking about it, you might want to sit up and take notice. As author of the legal tax reference Frumkes & Vertz on Divorce Taxation, I’ve been reporting on and teaching colleagues all about these changes. Here are some explanations why decisive action […]

Spouses who are separated should act promptly to settle their divorce cases, before changes in the federal tax law make it more difficult next year. Back in December 2017, the U.S. Congress passed a law that makes sweeping changes in federal income tax. Many personal tax deductions have been repealed, including the right to deduct alimony from taxable income. The repeal of the alimony tax deduction affects divorce settlements and […]

A recurring issue in divorce litigation is the treatment of marital assets that generate income, such as pensions, rental real estate and businesses. Pennsylvania case law establishes clearly that these assets can be divided as property in equitable distribution or counted as income for alimony, but not both. A recent decision published by Adams County Judge Robert G. Bigham applies this law and logic to IRA distributions, in Sealander v. […]

The recent non-precedential decision in Deslam v. Deslam, No. 1237 WDA 2012 (March 15, 2013) presented the Superior Court with the dilemma of Ellen Deslam in the nadir of her third marriage, just 36 months from her Medicare eligibility date, after a five year union. Apparently the divorce raised no serious dispute over the division of marital property; the Superior Court’s opinion focused only on the issuance of a divorce […]

In Doolittle v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2012-103 (2012), a NON-precedential opinion of the U.S. Tax Court, the taxpayer settled his divorce by entering into a marital settlement agreement, in which he agreed to pay $900 per month alimony until December 31, 2010. The alimony was intended to “help with college costs,” according to the 2003 settlement agreement. The child of the taxpayer and  his former wife would be 23 years […]