Law Office of Gary R. Swavely, Jr. Blog

There are no shortage of songs that have topped the charts by urging you to take revenge on a lover that has broken your heart. Carrie Underwood took a Louisville slugger to both headlights and slashed a hole in all 4 tires of her ex’s truck. Blu Cantrell maxed out a cheater’s credit cards. And a heartbroken Adam Levine, the lead singer of Maroon 5, shot another man dead after finding him in his bed. 

All of those songs are full of terrible advice.
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It wasn’t just an announcement that Reading Pennsylvania divorce attorneys noticed-- it was the divorce heard ‘round the world. 
When the news broke that arguably the richest man in the world was getting divorced, people couldn’t help but speculate how the division of marital property would be handled in such a high-profile divorce case. 

The founder and CEO of Amazon, worth an estimated $137 billion, is reportedly divorcing his wife of 25 years and is in a serious relationship with another woman.

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When parents divorce, each parent has a duty to support their child financially, even though the parents are no longer married, or the child may not live with the parent on a full-time basis. The amount of child support depends on several factors. Pennsylvania has specific child support guidelines that determine the child support obligations of each parent.

Child support obligations may include extraordinary expenses in addition to the base support amount, including money for private school tuition. Our Read more . . .

You have probably heard the news that Jeff Bezos, the man who founded Amazon, and his wife MacKenzie are getting a divorce. If you missed the initial announcement, which was made via Twitter, you probably learned about the marital life of the world’s richest couple when Jeff got into a Read more . . .

In 2016, the Pennsylvania legislature passed laws legalizing medical marijuana.  However, marijuana is still an illegal drug under federal laws. Therefore, an individual could be prosecuted under federal laws for drug crimes for possessing and using medical marijuana because of conflicting federal and state laws.
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A recent study of Philadelphia County divorce cases by Harvard Law School’s Access to Justice Lab is drawing attention to something those of us in the legal world have known for years —
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If you are considering getting divorced in Pennsylvania, you might be so preoccupied with your current situation--or getting out of it--that you may not be able to focus on what life would be like after divorce.

While divorces are as unique as the couple seeking them, all couples getting divorced have to deal with the division of marital property. In Pennsylvania, marital property is divided according to Pennsylvania’s equitable distribution laws which seek to divide marital property fairly but not necessarily equally.

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Both parents are expected to contribute to the financial needs of their child. In Pennsylvania, child support is based on standard guidelines. Deviations from the guidelines are rare, but judges may grant a deviation from the guideline in some cases. Talking with an experienced

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Have you watched the new comedy Splitting Up Together? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. As someone who practices family law, I find the show both hilarious and horrifying.

According to the
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According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), nearly 20 people a minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. Emotional abuse is even more common. As a family law attorney, I work with a victim of some sort of abuse at least once a week.

It’s incredibly frustrating that abuse is so common, but it is wonderful to know that I am able to use the legal system to help my clients escape the situation they are in. I frequently help clients who are going through a divorce or battling over child custody get Protection From Abuse (PFA) Orders.

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In many cases, a person works with a Pennsylvania child support lawyer when the person is involved in a custody and support case. Unfortunately, when questions about child support arise years after the case was settled, a person may not contact an attorney for answers to child support questions. The problem with not contacting an attorney with a question about child support is that you may believe a child support myth that can get you into trouble if you rely on the myth.

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