Lancaster Law Blog : Lancaster PA Lawyer & Attorney : Russell Krafft & Gruber Law Firm : Pennsylvania : Lancaster's Legal Link

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The news each day seems to be filled with headlines about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces in Iraq and the return of many of them to the United States, a recent Amendment to the Pennsylvania Divorce Code is likely to be put into use more frequently. 

At the end of 2008, the Divorce Code was amended to prevent the Court from changing a custody order where a parent is a servicemember and has been deployed, except on a temporary basis. The Court may make a temporary change to the order if it would serve the best interests of the child to do so while the servicemember is deployed. This part of the new law is not that different from all other custody procedures, which look to the best interests of the child as a guide. 

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In order to spur the struggling economy, the federal government passed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010 this year. The goal of the HIRE Act was to provide incentives for employers to add new employees to their businesses, specifically, employees that were previously unemployed. With the unemployment rate gradually increasing, offering employers incentives to add new employees is even more important than when the HIRE Act was passed.

The HIRE Act predominantly encourages hiring new employees by creating tax benefits for employers that hire previously unemployed and certain part-time employees. The Act exempts employers from its share (6.2%) of social security taxes for hiring new employees that either did not work in the last 60 days or worked 40 hours or less in the last 60 days. In addition, if the employee is kept for one year (52 weeks) the employer can receive up to a $1,000 tax credit for the 2011 tax year. For example, an employee that has not worked since April 2010 who is hired on October 1, 2010 and retained until October 1, 2011 would create a $1,000 tax credit for the employer filing its taxes in 2012 for the 2011 fiscal year.

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A few weeks ago I watched a program on ABC Primetime called "Divorce Without Separation", about an Arizona couple who chose to live together while they were divorcing. I know some couples choose to live together while they work out the intricacies of their divorce but, in my experience, it is not common. Since I don't often run into couples who choose to live together during a divorce, I found this show especially interesting to see how this particular couple worked through the divorce process under those circumstances.

The couple chose to use mediation to resolve equitable distribution, support, alimony and custody issues. It appeared that they each retained a lawyer to review the terms of their Postnuptial Agreement and the decisions about how to divide their assets were done with a skilled mediator whose office, interestingly, was situated inside a legal office.

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Under Pennsylvania’s Unclaimed Property Act (the "Act"), some businesses and non-profit organizations were required to file an unclaimed property report with the Pennsylvania Treasury by April 15^th.  Many failed to do so.  However, under the Unclaimed Property Holder Amnesty Program (the "Program"), some of those late filers will be able to file without penalty until October 31, 2010.

In general under the Act, unclaimed property is any financial asset that has been left with a business without activity or contact for a period of one year or more.  In many cases, people have property such as expired gift certificates, checking accounts, stocks, dividends, uncashed checks, CDs and unclaimed insurance benefits.  The Pennsylvania Treasury maintains an online database to search whether you have any unclaimed property.