When a couple marries, it is generally with the assumption that their union will last forever. No one ever goes into a marriage expecting that at some point in time they will hit an unavoidable roadblock that ultimately ends in divorce. Unfortunately, some marriages do head in this direction, and the situation can become even more complicated when children are involved. When a person does find himself or herself in this position, they need assistance from a skilled professional who can help get through whatever happens next and move on with their lives.
Few know the importance of experience in these matters better than Maureen C. Repetto, Esq., who has been helping individuals through their toughest times for the past 24 years. Practicing in Delaware and Chester counties, as well as Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, Repetto represents clients in every area of family law, including complex equitable distribution of marital property, alimony, preparation of prenuptial agreements, custody, child support, business valuation, adoption and protection from abuse matters. She has a Bachelor of Science in finance and a Bachelor of Arts in political science, and she has been admitted to a variety of courts, including the United States Tax Court. Repetto worked as a second-grade schoolteacher while obtaining her Juris Doctor from Widener University.
Often described as a “bulldog” attorney in the family law field, she is fully committed to each and every case she takes on, and she does her best to ensure her clients see the best possible outcomes in their cases.
Repetto is joined at her Media-based firm, the Law Office of Maureen C. Repetto, by paralegal Heather R. Barnett. As the sole practitioner at her firm, Repetto says she and Barnett, who has 12 years of family law experience herself, can provide clients with the individual attention they deserve.
“People want to be able to reach out to someone that they can get in touch with right away,” she says. “Whether it’s me or it’s Heather, they will reach out to one of us, as opposed to someone who’s not familiar with the case. We’re very hands on. Clients are able to speak with us face to face, and they have confidence in the knowing that if I’m in court, Heather knows about the case and they can reach out to her.”
It is apparent Repetto and Barnett are both passionate about their work, as evidenced by their near 24-hour availability to their clients, as well as their propensity to take work home with them, when needed. Another example of Repetto’s passion for her clients is seen with her involvement in the writing of House Bill No. 1412 in 1997. Repetto got involved in writing changes and amendments to the Protection from Abuse Act after her client, Kim Carsello, was brutally murdered in the notorious triple homicide dubbed “The Palm Sunday Murders.”
“I walked into [now former] State Rep. Mario Civera’s office and told him we needed a change,” she recalls. “He was really receptive. A lot of attorneys take their cases and let them go when they’re done. After Kim, I knew I wasn’t done.”
Repetto represented Carsello in her divorce, custody and protection from abuse matters. Carsello was in the midst of a custody battle at the time of the murder, and Repetto had petitioned the court for a mental health evaluation of Carsello’s ex-husband, Keith Scavo. The parties reconciled in the midst of the divorce proceedings for a short period because, as people sometimes do, Carsello felt compelled to make her family work for the sake of her daughter. The reconciliation was short lived and the divorce became final. Despite attorney advice, Carsello did not renew her protection from abuse order because, as she stated, her daughter “deserves a daddy; he may be a mean one, but he is her father.” Carsello eventually began a new romantic relationship, which seemed to trigger her ex-husband, and during a custody exchange, Scavo gunned down Carsello, her mother and her boyfriend. He also injured the daughter in the process.
After the trial, Repetto devoted herself to the protection of children and victims of abuse. After her extensive involvement of helping to write House Bill No. 1412 with Civera and Gov. Tom Ridge, Repetto was nominated by Patrick Meehan, Esq.—who at the time was district attorney of Delaware County—to be a member of the Protection from Abuse Database Advisory Committee. This entailed the development of the computer system used throughout Pennsylvania by law enforcement.
“I didn’t want what happened to Kim to happen to anyone else,” Repetto says of her motivation to help with the bill. “The database also became important because a lot of police officers agree that the worst calls they get are domestics. When we started putting the protection from abuse information into their database, it made it easier for them to know if there was a domestic violence perpetrator inside. When they pull up on a site now, they have all that information.”
Family law is not just Repetto’s “job,” and the people she represents are not just her clients. She fights every battle as if it were her child, her assets, her well-being, etc. Through her wealth of knowledge and experience, she is able to help her clients through the most difficult times in their lives by walking them through the process step by step.
“Clients come to me because I am passionate about what I do,” she says. “I am human; I am divorced myself but have since remarried, and I have four children, so clients can relate to me. I have walked in their shoes. I am not above them; I am here to help them.”
Maureen C. Repetto, Esquire
212 W. Front Street
Media, PA 19063
610-565-3008
repettolawoffice@gmail.com
Photograph by Jody Robinson
