Divorce and Family Law
Serving clients in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Divorce
Most couples undergoing divorce strive to achieve a fair and equitable settlement that covers practical needs in terms of child custody, child support, visitation, spousal support, and property division. The ease or difficulty present in resolving such issues depends on the spouses' ability to reach reasonable agreements, the complexity of the issues involved, and their lawyer's skills in proposing solutions, negotiating, and resolving their matters. Like any decision that will have long-lasting effects for a couple, successful settlements demand careful thought and a thorough assessment of the impact that such decisions will have not only on each spouse, but also on their children.
The principal factors to be considered in most divorce cases involve:
Children
Child Custody
- Physical custody—responsibility for daily care, including clothing, hygiene, proper nutrition
- Legal custody—responsibility for education, religious upbringing, healthcare, and social activities.
- Joint custody—parents share in the physical or legal custody of the child
- Sole custody—one parent assumes the responsibilities of physical or legal custody or both.
Visitation
Non-custodial parents generally have the right to visit their child, which typically involves a planned visitation schedule that is in the child's best interests and works well with the child's routine, creating minimal disruption and offering stability.
Child Support
Based on Virginia law, the calculated financial support of minor children is based on both parent's monthly gross income, the number of children and percentage of time children spend with the parent. Both parents share in the responsibility of financially supporting their children. Under terms of shared physical custody in Maryland, child support is also provided by both parents.
Spousal Support
Spousal support may be determined based on the length of the marriage, the standard of living during marriage, the inability of the dependent spouse to be self supportive and other factors. Support can be temporary or permanent, but is terminated upon death or re-marriage of the spouse.
Property
Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. recognize the equitable distribution of property, which differs from community property states. Only marital property (as opposed to separate property) is subject to equitable distribution in Virginia. How marital property is equitably distributed depends on factors such as the length of the marriage, the contributions made by one spouse to another or to the family, debts, and the mental and physical condition of each spouse, along with other considerations, including tax consequences. Marital property may encompass a long list of items—real estate, vehicles, the marital home, furniture, bank accounts, investment accounts, pension plans, retirement benefits, life insurance, health care coverage and business interests, to name a few.
Family Law
While family law attorneys devote much of their time handling divorce proceedings, other areas that family law addresses include custody and support issues, premarital and post marital agreements, enforcement of judgments, post decree modification, adoptions, domestic violence issues and paternity matters.
To arrange a consultation to discuss divorce and family law matters, please contact us online or call our office at 1-888-312-5087.
