Love is in the air! Protect it with a prenup. Have you noticed the endless engagement posts flooding your Facebook feed? Jewelers and family law attorneys alike certainly have. In 2024, Signet, owner of Zales, Jared, Kay Jewelers, Blue Nile and Diamond Direct, expects engagements to reach 2.4 million, an […] Read more »
Do you know what will happen to your assets after you pass? If you’re like most people, you think of a will as the way to ensure your wishes are carried out with the dispersal of your assets. But wills aren’t the only documents that can do this. Trusts are […] Read more »
So, you have been thinking you want a divorce, and you live in the Commonwealth of Virginia. By making that decision, you have taken the first step in the divorce process. The next step is to determine the legal grounds, or specific legal reason, for why you are filing a […] Read more »
It’s back-to-school season, and for divorced or separated parents, the question is: Who is paying for the expensive TI-84 calculator their child needs for class? Child support doesn’t cover the costly tab of #2 pencils, paper, clothes and computers, which runs on average $600 per child, adding more stress to what can already be a tense situation between parents. Read more »
Although engagements are typically a time of joy and associated with new beginnings, some engagements come to an unforeseen end. When this happens, a major question on everyone’s mind is “who will get the engagement ring?” The answer is not black and white, explains SmolenPlevy Family Law Attorneys Alan Plevy […] Read more »
In the past two decades, the number of unmarried couples living together in the U.S. has nearly tripled from 6 million to 17 million, but that does not mean they have the same rights that married couples have. If you aren’t married, and your partner dies, that can affect your […] Read more »
When you are getting divorced, it can feel like everything changes in a matter of months. You quickly go from living off of two incomes to living off one. The lack of finances can make it hard to get the fresh start you had hoped for with the divorce. Many […] Read more »
Unmarried Mothers Virginia law presumes that the unmarried mother is the child’s parent. This means that from birth, unwed mothers have sole custody of the child. Unmarried Fathers Unlike the child’s mother, unmarried fathers start with no parental rights unless they are named on the birth certificate. Obtaining those rights […] Read more »
As a parent, you may be wondering whether you are entitled to receive child support payments from your child’s other parent. Here are a few initial considerations regarding parents’ rights to receive child support payments. Who Pays Child Support in a Divorce? When married parents divorce or separate, or when […] Read more »
Jumping back into the dating scene after separating from your spouse can sound fun but the consequences can make your divorce complicated. Virginia Does Not Recognize Separation Regardless of your physical or emotional separation, in Virginia, you are either married or divorced in the eyes of the law – this […] Read more »
If you die without legally designating in a “last will and testament” how your assets will be distributed and who is your executor, the court will appoint an executor and provide for the distribution of your assets through a slow (and potentially expensive to your heirs) process called probate of […] Read more »
A frequent question in divorce is whether you can make an ex-spouse pay for your divorce attorney. Family law attorneys Alan Plevy and Kyung (Kathryn) Dickerson say the answer isn’t always clear cut. Who typically pays for the divorce attorney? Laws differ from state to state, but in Virginia, the […] Read more »
Tensions can run high when former spouses have to work together and oftentimes, divorced couples feel like they are no longer allies. Yet, when they have children, there are numerous decisions that the divorced couple needs to make together. Enter professional decision makers, also known as co-parenting coordinators. A co-parenting coordinator is a neutral third party who serves a divorced or separated couple as a decision maker and a facilitator of communication. Read more »
We have all heard about divorce – whether it took place in our family, we saw it in a movie or TV show, or even as a media spectacle between two celebrities. Annulments, on the other hand, are not as common. Annulments treat the marriage as though it never existed […] Read more »
Pets are often regarded as beloved members of the family. But what happens to them when a couple decides to divorce? The debate over pet ownership may cause added stress, becoming one of the hardest decisions for either party to make. Fortunately, Virginia law provides a clear basis for pet […] Read more »
