Domestic Relations Law

Our firm has an active family law practice encompassing litigation ranging from the most amicable of divorces to family abuse cases. We have experience in complex areas such as obtaining qualified domestic relations orders for the division of retirement benefits, but are also experienced in the nuts and bolts of a basic child support or custody case. With our breadth of experience we can give our clients an accurate picture of how their case should progress and what it will take to reach their objectives. We strive to bring legal disputes to a prompt resolution while always seeking to energetically advance our clients’ interests.

Representative cases include:

Equitable Distribution:

We obtained an equitable distribution award granting our client 65% of the marital share of his military pension. We argued that the opposing party had, in essence, already paid herself a portion of the marital retirement because she had withdrawn all of the money from her 403(b) account within a year of the parties' separation. She claimed that she used the 403(b) funds she raided for "living expenses"; however, by using her American Express statements, we were able to show that she had traveled back and forth to California seven times between August of 1998 and March of 2000.  We proved that she had even bought an airline ticket for another man. We proved that she purchased a new car and she admitted on the stand that that had been a mistake. We also proved that our client had provided significant financial support to his wife during the period following their separation when she was working full time. Given these facts, the court found that she should not have needed her 403(b) for living expenses and that she had dissipated a marital asset. She therefore was awarded only 35% of the marital share of our client's military pension.

International Abduction Child Custody Settlement:

In a case involving two parties originally from the Middle East, where the mother, our client, was concerned about abduction of her children, we obtained a settlement providing safeguards against international child abduction. The parents were from a country that was not a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, so extra protections against child abduction were warranted. The settlement provided the mother with sole physical custody and the father with visitation only in Northern Virginia, only with her agreement, and only upon the relinquishment of his U.S. and foreign passports to the Guardian Ad Litem. The mother also received child support by an Income Deduction Order.

Spousal Support Reduction:

A Prince William County judge reduced our client’s obligation to pay spousal support from $3,500.00 monthly to $100.00 per month. The client’s potential liability for spousal support was over $500,000.00 under a Property Settlement Agreement. We argued that support should be modified due to the ex-spouse’s cohabitation and to the husband’s change in circumstances. The judge found that we had proven both cohabitation and a change in circumstance leading to his decision to reduce support.

Divorce Settlement:

We obtained a settlement in a case involving a husband who had moved to Colorado and was refusing to pay support or negotiate on division of marital property. He was personally served with process, subjected to the jurisdiction of a Virginia court, and, rather than litigate across the county, he offered our client title to the marital home, all of his stock in his business, guideline child support and half of the children’s college expenses.

Post-Divorce Enforcement of Court Order:

We obtained a ruling of contempt and an award of our client’s attorney’s fees and costs in our Motion to Enforce a Final Decree of Divorce. The parties had designated an account for their daughter’s college expenses. Months before their daughter was to commence college, her mother withdrew $19,000.00.  The Court found that our client’s ex-spouse had violated the Court’s Final Decree of Divorce and ordered her to repay the account, transfer title of the account to our client and pay our client’s attorney’s fees and costs.