If I fear for my safety, can I take my child and go?
Domestic violence is a very real issue in family law cases; it’s one we brush up against all the time. It was something that surprised me when I first started, because even in the most otherwise normal cases, there were undercurrents of domestic violence. A friend of mine from law school is a prosecutor,…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: child support | complaint | custody | domestic violence | fault based grounds for divorce | pendente lite | protective order | visitation
How quickly can I get divorced?
You might be surprised to hear that I have scads of clients who, when I email, don’t respond for a week or more. I have clients who retain and, in a flurry of activity, work with me to prepare a first draft of a separation agreement, which goes untouched (on their part, mind you) for…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: adultery | discovery | divorce | immediate divorce | one year | pendente lite | separation | six months
Why Would I File A Contested Divorce In Virginia?
In many cases, it’s not necessary to use fault based grounds for divorce. After all, if you file on fault, you’ll have to litigate to prove to the judge that your grounds exist. Because, depending on the grounds, different civil and criminal penalties apply, you’ll have to meet a specific burden of proof, and that…
Filed under: Divorce Tag with: abuse | assets | attorney's fees | child custody | contested divorce | discovery | divorce | domestic violence | equitable distribution | liabilities | narcissist | pendente lite | separation | spousal support | virginia | WITHDRAWN SUPPORT
Tax Consequences in Virginia Divorce in 2020
I’ve written about tax consequences in divorce before, but alas – the law has changed again! It happens, from time to time, which is part of why it’s so important to be sure of where you’re getting information when you search for it online. You need to make sure that you’re not blindly trusting nameless,…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: child support | house | marital residence | pendente lite | spousal support | taxes
Custody and visitation when you live separate in the same house
After you’ve decided to separate, but before you reach an agreement about how all the assets and liabilities should be divided (or, alternatively, before a judge has a chance to hear the case and render a verdict), there’s a fair bit of gray. What happens with everything – but, probably, most specifically, what happens with…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: custody | divorce | partial agreement | pendente lite | separation | separation under the same roof | visitation
Can my husband liquidate our bank accounts?
In divorce cases, nastiness abounds. Some cases surprise me by the levels to which the participants will sink in the name of revenge, but most follow a fairly predictable pattern. Though it’s certainly scary and unsettling to be caught in the middle of it, in most cases, rest assured – it all works itself out….
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: bank accounts | direct deposit | divorce | joint checking | liquidate | liquidation | marital money | pendente lite | separation
I believe in my marriage, and I don’t want a divorce.
In many cases, couples both agree that the marriage isn’t working and that they want out. I’ve had several, though, where one party or the other doesn’t agree, and consistently insists that he or she wants to stay married. The reality is that you really can’t FORCE someone to stay married; whether you like it…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: divorce | litigated divorce | pendente lite | reconciliation | separation | separation agreement
Dividing Retirement Accounts in Divorce
Divorce is complicated because it touches on so many different things. Of all the things that come immediately to mind – like child custody, spousal support, and the marital residence – retirement is one of the biggest and most important elements of your divorce. Men often like to say that their retirement is their own…
Filed under: Uncategorized Tag with: 401(k) | 403b | dividing retirement | liquidating assets | pendente lite | qdro | qualified domestic relations order | TSP