Divorce

Pennsylvania Divorce and Collaborative Law

The family lawyers at Vetrano & Vetrano understand that divorce is not solely the legal dissolution of a marriage, but also a psychological uncoupling. Our divorce attorneys know that the time it takes to “process” the psychological aspect of a divorce differs from person to person. Contact the divorce attorneys at the Pennsylvania law firm Vetrano & Vetrano for an understanding consultation about your divorce plans or concerns.

Complicated Division of Marital Assets

A dependent spouse might prefer to have the house rather than a share in the other spouse’s retirement benefits. And the question is whether that is the better choice. Our divorce lawyers help you decide what marital assets are best for you—in light of your particular circumstances.

We have extensive experience identifying and valuing all of the potential assets of a marital estate including: businesses, shares of stock, stock options, limited partnerships, private equity holdings, real estate investments, employee benefits, retirement benefits (qualified and nonqualified), retiree health benefits, foreign bank accounts, trusts, and offshore accounts. Our attorneys take into account the assets’ tax aspects for a fair distribution between the spouses. Also, many of our clients have lived in other countries, including Belgium, Brazil, France, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Syria.

Child Custody and Visitation

When children are involved, our attorneys take a family-centric approach to the divorce. We strive to create child custody and visitation arrangements that address the children’s needs and preserve the children’s relationships with each parent. Our family law attorneys offer several methods to establish suitable arrangements, including mediation, collaborative law and the arbitration process. We also advise you on the consequences of decisions you make about your children. For example: Which parent can claim the dependency exemption for annual income tax filing? How often can you see the children? How should holidays be divided? How does the custody arrangement affect child support?

Planning for Long-term Financial Consequences of Divorce

For the divorcing couple, our approach also means consideration of long-range issues, including: property distribution, health insurance, retirement benefits, alimony, and social security. To promote effective negotiation between divorcing spouses, we often arrange “four-way meetings” among the spouses and attorneys. In this way, an agreement is reached after each person has been heard. Many times, time-consuming and expensive litigation can be avoided. As lives change following a divorce, we also assist clients in addressing modifications to exisiting support orders.

Assisting Cohabiting Couples, Same-Sex Partners

Vetrano & Vetrano also assists cohabiting couples and same-sex partners in determining property rights, contributions to household expenses, and whether a common law marriage exists (according to the law of Pennsylvania or of any other pertinent state or country). In addition, we prepare cohabitation agreements that define rights in the event of a separation.

Contact our divorce and family law attorneys for a worthwhile consultation.