Divorce
It's entirely possible to get married without giving much thought to the legal rights and obligations involved with matrimony.
Divorce shines a bright light on the legal aspects of the relationship between spouses. There are two ways to obtain a divorce and dissolve a marriage in Virginia, and we can help you through both of them.
Uncontested Divorce
In an uncontested divorce, both spouses agree that the marriage is over. An uncontested divorce is just that UNCONTESTED. There are two ways that our office can help you obtain an uncontested divorce, specifically:
(1) you have been separated from you spouse without cohabitation for 6 months, you have a property settlement agreement, and no minor children, or
(2) if you have minor children, you have been separated from your spouse without cohabitation for 1 year. Our definition of an uncontested divorce also includes that you have no contested spousal support, child support, division of property issues or child custody issues that need to be litigated.
Contested Divorce
In a contested divorce there will be litigation in one form or another. One form of a contested divorce is that the parties essentially dispute the cause of the separation, and the spouse seeking the divorce needs to allege and prove grounds for a divorce. The other and most common form of a contested divorce is that there are issues of property division (equitable distribution), spousal or child support, and/or child custody issues that need to be litigated.
In either type of situation, uncontested divorce or contested divorce, we can help:
- Draft your orders and/or final judgment in your divorce case
- Evaluate and determine the amount of child support that should be paid in your divorce
- Establish custody/visitation arrangements in your divorce
- Negotiate creative solutions to divorce issues
- Mediate property and debt division discussions in your divorce process to help reach an equitable division of property
- Draft your property settlement agreements to be used in your divorce
- Prepare for and litigate unresolved divorce issues in Court
We help divorce clients work through whatever special problems your case might present. In some divorce cases, child custody or visitation questions will present the biggest hurdles toward agreement. In other divorce cases, the fair division of a complex marital estate will occupy much of our attention. After a fair appraisal and evaluation, however, an agreement should be the goal. Contact us today if we can help you with your divorce and preparation of a property settlement agreement.