Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania

Re: child support

You asked if a child support agreement could be increased when the paying spouse marries and theoretically increases his income due to the marriage.

The potential is there for support requirements to be increased when a person marries and the parties don't properly plan to minimize the payor's income.

This situation calls for an agreement and careful planning on the part of the intended bride and groom. The best situation is that both parties enter a well considered pre-nuptial agreement that specifies all financial issues. this wold allow the payor to draft an agreement that minimized his percieved income to that income which was derived from his resources.

A distant second choice would be to structure your finances so that each party maintained separate control of their own finances. Each party would contribute to a proportion of the household expenses. Do not attempt to minimize the payor's income lower than it is now unless there is a significant event (health crisis, loss of job, et cetera). Doing so would appear to be a fraud and could destroy what you are trying to create.

I would strongly recommend that you -each- hire an attorney to negotiate a pre-nuptial agreement on your behalves. You can minimize the costs by coming to an agreement ahead of time, but it is very important that you each have separate advice and counsel on such a matter.

Regards,

Roger