BV Source

Call Me : 412 471 9000 ext. 115

24 Hours : 412 572 6883

custody

23
Nov

Father’s Rights: Growing Trend in Custody?

Posted by Brian Vertz Comments Off

A series of articles published last month in Working Mother magazine claims that men who seek custody of their children in contested divorces are winning just as often as women. This trend is attributed to the principle that parents who work harder to provide for the family have less time and ability to perform traditional parenting tasks. As more women devote themselves to their careers, the article suggests, they may have less time to perform parenting duties.

The thought-provoking article has been cited in the New York Times and Family Law Prof Blog.

Category : children | custody | divorce | family court | Blog
25
Aug

Is Private School Better than Public, and Who Pays?

Posted by Brian Vertz Comments Off

The Superior Court recently considered the case of Murphy v. McDermott (2009), in which the Court was asked to consider whether the unmarried father of a child should be required to pay parochial school tuition. Prior to the outbreak of child support litigation, Mother unilaterally enrolled the child in parochial pre-school, a decision that Father opposed but acquiesced in. When Mother enrolled the child in private kindergarten, Father was roused from complacency and refused to pay. Mother sued him for child support, including private school tuition, and won.

On appeal, the Superior Court considered the two-pronged test previously established by the Pennsylvania courts: (1) whether the child would benefit from private school; and (2) whether the expense was consistent with the standard of living established prior to separation. (Note that the parents never lived together.)  Father argued that the public school should not be presumed to be inferior, and that public school offered more programs than parochial school. The Superior Court held that it would not overrule the trial court’s finding that parochial school would benefit the child, nor its finding that Father could afford the expense. One of the Superior Court judges wrote a strong dissent, expressing his opinion that public schools should not be denigrated.  In fact, the dissenting judge would have created a presumption that public schools are adequate unless the parent seeking private or parochial school could prove a deficiency.

Category : Pennsylvania | child support | children | custody | decisions | family court | Blog