Pennsylvania Legal Blog

The decision to end a marriage is seldom one made hastily and can be made all the more difficult when there are children involved. While the couple may come to the conclusion that they can no longer remain married and decide to divorce, they will still be parents. Pennsylvania encourages parents to arrive at child custody arrangements that keep the best interests of the child in mind. 

It is widely accepted that maintaining a relationship with both parents is best for the child. Spending as much time as possible with each parent can be critical to healthy physical and mental development. When considering child custody there are two main factors to keep in mind and they are the two different types of custody that must be addressed. These are physical custody and legal custody.

One of the most difficult decisions that parents contemplating divorce may face in Pennsylvania concerns child custody and how parenting will be shared going forward following a divorce. There is no law in the state that mandates the state's involvement, so parents are free to negotiate child custody independent of the courts. When an agreement cannot be reached, the court may intervene. Sadly, a decision from the court can take several months and may not be to the liking of one or even both parents.

When courts are involved, a recent nationwide study showed that a typical custody split was about 65% to the mother and 35% to the father. In Pennsylvania it is skewed slightly more toward the mother, with the split being 72% to 28%. A bill under consideration in the state legislature aims to change this.

Figuring out who children will live with and how much time they will spend with each parent after divorce can be a real challenge for parents in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Even when the time portion of a child custody order is figured out, there are a lot of other details that need to be considered and included in a custody plan. In the end, the details matter and can work to one's benefit.

Recently, the importance of custody details was brought to the public's attention when reality television celebrity Audrina Patridge required police assistance in order to secure her child from her ex for her custody time. Per the former couple's child custody agreement, they are to meet outside their local police station every Thursday, at 10 a.m., to transfer the child from one parent to the other. The exception to this would be on certain holidays where they switch off who gets their daughter every year.

When ending a marriage, the division of property -- both of positive and negative value -- can be a complicated affair. It is not uncommon for some Pennsylvania residents to believe that they should be able to walk away from their marriages with certain positive assets and not be held accountable for their soon-to-be ex's debts. Unfortunately, due to the nature of divorce, this may not all work out as one hopes it will.

Many couples are affected by student loan debt. When a couple chooses to end their marriage, one would think that the person for whom the loan was intended would have to take on the full responsibility of paying back the debt. In truth, it may be considered shared marital property and up to both spouses to pay off the loan.