What property in a divorce is marital?
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…
Filed under: Property Dispute Tag with: DIVISION | house | hybrid property | inheritance | marital property | prenuptial agreement | property | real estate | separate property
Dividing Retirement Accounts in Divorce
One of the biggest assets that we divide in divorce are retirement accounts. Whether we’re talking about IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, pensions, stock options, TSPs, or any other type of account, if they were earned during the marriage, they’re marital property and subject to division in any action for divorce. Retirement is actually (usually!) an easy…
Filed under: Blog Tag with: 401(k) | divorce | marital property | marital share | pension | qdro | retirement | taxes | thrift savings plan
How can we divide a family owned business?
Coming from a family that owns a local business and now working for another small family-owned business, it’s pretty safe to say that businesses are something that I think about a lot. You might even be surprised at how often it comes up, but there are lots and lots of different types of businesses that…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: business owner | business valuation | divorce | equitable distribution | marital asset | marital property | separation
How long do we have to be married to get half the house?
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…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: divorce | house | hybrid property | marital property | separate property | separation | virginia
How is debt divided in Virginia divorce?
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…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: adultery | credit cards | debt | division of debt | divorce | hybrid property | marital property | separate property | separation | waste
Bankruptcy and Divorce
If you have more debts than assets and you feel like you’re drowning, it may be that divorce shouldn’t be your first thought. Let’s break it down a little bit. Because, of course, financially, divorce CAN help, especially if there are some issues (like his general extravagance) that you want to get out from under….
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: assets | bankruptcy | debts | dividing debts | divorce | house | marital property | marital residence | real estate | refinance | virginia
To keep, sell, or refinance the house in Virginia divorce
Real estate is easy. Either one or the other of you keeps it, in which case you refinance the mortgage to remove your spouse from liability, or you sell it and split the proceeds. There’s not a lot of options, so we can often cut to the chase pretty quickly. I want to keep the…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: divorce | marital property | marital residence | real property | refinance | separation | the house | underwater | virginia
Vacation Homes and Divorce
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…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: divorce | equitable distribution | equity | hybrid property | marital property | mortgage | real estate | real property | refinance | separate property | separation | underwater | vacation homes
His, Hers, Ours: Classifying Property in Divorce
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…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: divorce book | equitable distribution | hybrid property | marital property | monthly divorce seminar | property division | Second Saturday | separate property | Virginia divorce | what women need to know about divorce
Keeping the House in Virginia Divorce
In a divorce, there are often a lot of assets, but none quite so big (or emotional) as the marital home. Most women who come meet with me have really strong feelings about what they’d like done with the house. Whether they want to keep it, sell it, are hoping for a short sale, or…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: foreclosure | house | hybrid property | keeping the house | marital property | marital residence | refi | refinancing the house | selling the house | separate property | short sale | Virginia divorce