In Pennsylvania, divorce is divided into two categories: “fault” and “no fault.” A divorce on fault grounds requires that the plaintiff prove that he or she is the innocent and injured spouse and that the other spouse is guilty of one of six categories of marital misconduct: adultery, desertion, cruel and barbarous treatment, bigamy, imprisonment for a crime, and indignities.

A divorce based on no-fault grounds must assert that the marriage is irretrievably broken.

It depends. The cost of divorce is entirely case specific. If the parties have many assets and debts to evaluate for distribution, it can be a fairly long, complicated and expensive process.

Additionally, Pennsylvania employs a trifurcated system, meaning that divorce, custody and support can be handled at different times. If your case involves all three, it will be more expensive to litigate.

Yes. In Pennsylvania, annulment is the manner in which invalid marriages are terminated. A marriage is invalid, for instance, if either party was incapable of consenting to marriage by reason of insanity, or if either party was, at the time of the purported marriage, validly married to another person.

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Long-standing law in Pennsylvania is that the most important consideration when determining custody is the best interest of the child. To determine the child’s best interests, the court must look at all factors that legitimately impact the child physically, intellectually, morally and spiritually.

The court will take many factors into account to make this determination, including but not limited to the child’s preference, custody arrangements of sibling, which party has typically been the primary caretaker, etc.

Custody can be modified at any time at the initiation of either party, keeping in mind that the paramount consideration for determining custody is the best interest of the child.

A change in circumstances is not required to modify a custody order, however, it may be unlikely to obtain a change in the schedule if there has been no change in circumstances.

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