Marital Settlement Agreement in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Marital Settlement Attorneys

Our Pittsburgh lawyers draft Marital Settlement Agreements for our divorce clients and our attorneys can also review Marital Settlement Agreements drafted by your spouse’s counsel. If you have questions about Marital Settlement Agreements in Pennsylvania we would be happy to speak to you.

When you are resolving an uncontested divorce, it is a very good idea to utilize a Marital Settlement Agreement to set forth the terms of how the marital assets and/or debts will be divided.

Without addressing the division of marital property prior to the entry of a final divorce decree, the parties may leave important issues unresolved leading to problems down the road.

For example, the most common issue we encounter is where a couple has handled the divorce without using an attorney. Later, however, they discover that there are problems, since they did not properly account for dividing their major assets such as a home or cars.

If your divorce is finalized before you have properly resolved home ownership either through a sale or refinance, parties wishing to divide their interest in the home post-divorce may face additional litigation including an expensive partition action. Further, once a marriage is legally dissolved, but a home remains owned jointly, there are further risks of creditors of one party encumbering the asset.

Other people believe that they do not have enough assets to warrant the use of a legal agreement. However, even modest means families can benefit from using a formal settlement agreement, which addresses transfers of vehicle ownership, checking or savings account balances, or how any past or future tax deficiencies will be divided.

For contested divorces, a marital settlement agreement can be used to resolve issues of non-contention and can provide a more cost-effective alternative to litigating some or all of the parties’ economic issues.

A Marital Settlement Agreement can be drafted to include provisions to deal with just about everything involved with the dissolution of a marriage and may address whether there will be any spousal support or alimony, and if so, the duration and amount of same.

In addition, the MSA can also lay out in great detail the specific items or assets that each party is to receive, and the terms associated with their distribution. MSA's are limited only by the wishes of the parties, and by the fact that they must conform to the legal requirements of any other contract.

Nota bene: Moving forward, the new tax law will be a game changer for all pending and future divorce cases and settlements. The law will have to respond as well, causing more changes, compromises, and thoughtful planning by all.

Contact us for more information about Marital Settlement Agreements. Call Scott L. Levine at 412.303.9566 to schedule a consultation. We proudly serve clients in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Allegheny County throughout Western Pennsylvania.