A friend sent me a message the other day about divorce to ask me about her divorce. It happens all the time! She had gotten an inheritance from her grandmother, she said, and used it to buy a car and a trailer, but that her soon to be ex was keeping it hostage and she couldn’t convince him that it was hers. (Under Virginia law, inherited property is separate property.) “Should I just give him half and move on?” she asked. In this case, I get it. These two people really didn’t have anything … [Read more...]
How Will COVID-19 Affect My Family Law Case?
First of all, we are thinking about all of our clients and all women and children in Virginia at this time. No matter your life circumstance – whether you have kids, whether you are elderly, or whether you are just trying to keep your job, everything right now is hard. Schools in Virginia are closed for at least two weeks, perhaps indefinitely. Businesses have reduced hours, and we are limited to take-out and delivery at restaurants. Even the courts have limited their availability to only … [Read more...]
Four Way Settlement Conference
Four Way Settlement Conference There’s not a lot of magic when it comes to being a divorce lawyer. I think that a lot of people think there is – magic words we put in agreements, or magic tactics we have to make the unmanageable somehow manageable. The truth is, though, that (although I wish there were), there’s nothing very magical about what we do. We’re fastidious; we’re meticulous – but we’re not magical. Since all we do is divorce, we have a ton of relevant experience when it comes to … [Read more...]
What to expect at a judicial settlement conference
What to expect at a judicial settlement conference Judicial settlement conferences can happen for a couple of different reasons. If your divorce is contested, oftentimes courts require that you have a judicial settlement conference before your trial, in an attempt to encourage the parties to settle on their own without the judge’s involvement. (If your divorce is contested, you may find there are a great many procedural road blocks in place designed to help facilitate settlement and keep your … [Read more...]
Not happy, but not ready for a divorce: The Marital Agreement
You’re unhappy, but maybe you’re not ready to move forward with a divorce just yet. Things have been rough, but you’re still holding out hope that something might change and you’ll be able to make it work. Whether for your own sake or for the sake of your children, there’s something just so permanent about taking those first tentative steps towards divorce, and you’re not ready for that yet. But that doesn’t mean, though, that you’re okay with how things are. That doesn’t mean that you’re … [Read more...]
Should I go to mediation instead?
When it comes to divorce, you have options. Depending on your contentious your case looks like it is (and you know the answer to that question better than anyone), you may have more options than you even realize. Though you certainly want to make sure you get the things that you’re legally entitled to receive, there’s no reason that you have to do it any one specific way. There are lots of options, and you should make sure you take all of them into account so that you can make the best decision … [Read more...]
