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Luzerne County Council set to start altering the proposed 2019 budget Tuesday

<p>Luzerne County Court&#8217;s new in-house divorce master is saving former couples on fees, a court official said during last week&#8217;s council budget work session.</p><p>Masters are attorneys who preside over initial court matters to free up county judges to focus on other cases. Judges take over cases if they can&#8217;t be resolved at the master level.</p><p>Under the old system, a pool of around 35 outside attorneys served as divorce masters and received a $125 filing fee and other court-approved, per-hour fees paid by the divorcing parties, said county Court Administrator Michael Shucosky.</p><p>Since Susan Maza was hired as the staff divorce master at $60,000 around March, the divorcing parties pay a flat $400 &#8212; or $200 each &#8212; for master services, he said.</p><p>Before the change, it was common for couples to spend $5,000 or even $10,000 on the master handling a divorce, Shucosky told council.</p><p>&#8220;It is a great benefit to the public,&#8221; he said of the in-house position.</p><p>Maza handles divorce cases that are contested. When parties can&#8217;t agree, they file a petition for appointment of a master.</p><p>When the master issues a recommended resolution, the parties have a right to appeal to a judge.</p><p>Of the approximately 80 cases Maza has handled this year to date, only two advanced to a judge for trial, Shucosky said, saying family court officials are &#8220;extremely pleased&#8221; with her performance.</p><p>When a council majority agreed to fund the position the end of 2016, Shucosky said a portion of the salary would be recouped because the filing fee would be raised and could be kept by the county instead of being turned over to contracted outside attorneys.</p><p>However, council members noted this year&#8217;s budget report shows the county has not received any of the $60,000 in divorce master revenue. The same amount was projected to be received in 2019.</p><p>Shucosky said at least $32,000 was paid by divorcing parties this year to date, and he has been working with the budget/finance division and others in the county administration to determine why the receipts have not been credited to the correct court revenue category.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri told council the revenue budget credit will be straightened out, but the &#8220;real question&#8221; is whether council wants to continue funding the position in 2020. By then, council will have two years of data to determine if revenue is sufficiently covering the expense, he said.</p><p>Pedri said he has &#8220;no issue&#8221; supporting the position if it is fully offset by revenue.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve heard nothing but good things about the master. People have told me she&#8217;s done a phenomenal job,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>Shucosky noted this year&#8217;s revenue won&#8217;t cover a full year because the master wasn&#8217;t hired until March and could only take on new filings. Although the position was added to the 2017 budget, it wasn&#8217;t filled until this year because the court had to institute new protocol adopting the change and obtain state approval.</p><p>He projected the master eventually will handle approximately 200 cases a year, which would generate $80,000.</p><p>&#8220;I do believe it will end up being cost-neutral to the county,&#8221; Shucosky said.</p><p>Processing divorce cases through one master also ended inconsistencies in the handling of divorce matters and has reduced delays resolving cases, court officials have said.</p><p>A total 728 new divorce cases were filed in 2017, compared to an average 950 in other similarly sized, third class counties, Shucosky said. </p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Shucosky </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_Michael-Shucosky.jpg</photo0><caption0>Shucosky </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County divorce master position saving splitting couples money