The general wisdom seems to be that, if you bring property into a marriage, you should protect it with a prenuptial agreement – or, even, by not getting married at all. I can’t tell you how many times someone has told me this. That’s why it’s always a very good idea to talk to an...
Pre-Marital Property in Virginia
I’m always surprised at just how many people maintain separate bank accounts throughout the entirety of their marriage. Though I definitely understand the desire to keep things separate – and maybe to share expenses in a mutually owned household account – I do think that it often causes confusion about what is marital property...
In most cases, my clients have been with their husband for a number of years, accumulating a number of possessions – both consequential and inconsequential. Though we don’t often spend much time dividing the sheets and bath towels, other things, especially big ticket items like houses and cars, do occupy a fair amount of time...
There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about divorce and the divorce process in Virginia. When it comes to property division, there’s a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. I like to think that a big part of my job is just providing education, so that women know what to expect and at least how...
After the market crashed in 2008, we handled a lot of cases where there was more debt than anything else. It was terrible. Houses were underwater, and I’ve never seen such high credit card debt. In fact, at that point, it seemed like a lot of people decided to stay together because they really couldn’t...
Prenuptial agreements aren’t a whole lot of fun. In almost every case I’ve ever seen, one party has the other party completely over a barrel, and it diminishes any amount of bargaining power that she might have otherwise had. But, then again, that’s the point, isn’t it? There’d be no real need for a prenuptial...
Equitable distribution is the fancy way we describe how property is divided in the Virginia divorce process. Under equitable distribution, the court looks at all a couple’s assets (the things that are worth money) and liabilities (yes, your debt gets divided, too!) and makes a determination about what each former spouse should take away from...
When you’re happily married, everything is “ours”. But as soon as one of you starts talking about a potential separation, it’s funny how many things suddenly become “mine” – especially from a man’s perspective. I’ve only ever represented women only in divorce and custody cases, so I can speak most easily and comfortably about a...