Erie E-Law is a complimentary service of the Erie County Bar Association designed to make basic legal information available to you with ease. You can gain access to E-Law either by reading the information found below or by contacting us to request a copy of the transcripts.
From the date a husband and wife separate, and until the date a divorce is finalized and all divorce litigation has been resolved, the financially independent spouse may be required to support the dependent spouse. This support is not called alimony. Rather, it is properly called either spousal support or alimony Adoption is the legal creation of a parent-child relationship. Adoption usually occurs with minors; however, Pennsylvania law places no restrictions on the age of the person to be adopted. An adoption may be facilitated by an adoption agency or can be arranged privately. In order for an adoption to take place, the birth parents' rights must be terminated. The Pennsylvania Protection From Abuse Act is intended to protect victims of domestic violence. The Act applies to family or household members, sexual or intimate partners or the mother and father of a child and is intended to protect against future sexual abuse or future acts or threats of physical violence. Grandparents' rights to custody in Pennsylvania are governed by the Pennsylvania Child Custody Act. A grandparent may file an action for any form of physical or legal custody if they stand "in loco parentis" to the child, meaning they have assumed the obligations incident to a parent-child relationship without the formality of a legal adoption. The law has strict requirements regarding the use of names. Everyone is given a name at birth, and that name becomes the person's legal identification once it is recorded on a birth certificate. A name can be changed by various methods.
Alimony, Spousal Support, and APL
Family/Marital Law Matters
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Adoption
Family/Marital Law Matters
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Protection from Abuse
Family/Marital Law Matters
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Grandparent Rights
Family/Marital Law Matters
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Change of Name
Family/Marital Law Matters
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