Separation isn’t always the road to divorce. For some couples, probably for more couples than I even realize (because, let’s be honest, I have an unbalanced sampling), separation ultimately leads not to divorce but to reconciliation. That’s as it should be. I believe that women who want a divorce should be able to get one,...
Reconciling After Separation
Though the laws vary (sometimes dramatically!) from state-to-state, the law in Virginia is that spousal support terminates in three specific circumstances: (1) the death of either party, (2) the remarriage of the recipient party, and (3) the continued cohabitation of the recipient party in a relationship analogous to marriage for a period of one year...
In virtually every case I’ve seen, spousal support is a specific amount of money paid each month from the higher earning spouse to the lower earning spouse. In virtually every case I’ve seen, the higher earning spouse hates this. Like, really, really hates this. In virtually every case I’ve seen, he (it’s usually a he)...
Spousal support cases are some of the trickiest. Even though the law has changed recently to allow Fairfax guidelines to be applied in temporary support cases, permanent support cases are a little more tricky. The law also changed in terms of the taxability and deductibility of awards of spousal support; under the current laws, spousal...
Prenuptial agreements are pretty commonly misunderstood. I often hear that someone should may consider a prenup if they had substantial assets before the marriage that they wanted to protect. Under Virginia law, though, property that you earned or owned prior to marriage is already separate – it’s already yours, it stays yours, and it doesn’t...
Virginia relocation cases are always among the hardest. Though I understand why they come up so frequently (especially in an area that has such a high concentration of military families), I can also understand why the courts are so hesitant to allow one parent to relocate with the child. Like most other things, there are...
Part One Under Virginia law (well, under the law in every state, as far as I’m aware), both parents have an obligation to support their children. For many people, it’s a non issue – parents who are together tend to share expenses and mutually care for the children. For parents who are separated, divorced, or...
On Monday, we talked about lump sum spousal support as a way to avoid the restriction on cohabitation in spousal support cases. As you’re already aware (or you wouldn’t be here, reading this blog!), when you receive spousal support over a period of time, whether you receive it for a fixed time or permanently, your...