Recent Blog Posts
How does equitable property division work in a Virginia divorce?
If you cannot agree with your spouse on a fair way of dividing your marital property, state laws will determine how things will go. A Virginia family law judge will preside over the property division process, where the marital assets will be divided equitably.
Equitable division does not mean you will end up with equal portions after splitting the assets between you and your spouse. The court will factor in some aspects of your divorce. Depending on the circumstances, either spouse may end up with more than the other. Here is what you should know.
What factors are considered?
In Virginia, the court will take into account several things about your marriage when dividing the marital estates. For instance, each spouse’s contribution in acquiring marital assets, both monetary and non-monetary, will determine their share.
Other factors that may weigh in under state laws include:
Financial planning for a gray divorce
People over the age of 50 are divorcing at record rates. While there are several reasons attributed to these late-in-life divorces, it’s important for divorcing couples to realize they may face unique financial issues along the way.
When you have been married for decades, you accumulate more property and have more intertwined assets and liabilities than younger couples. Find out more about financial issues in a gray divorce here.
Complex asset division
At this point in life, you probably have a complicated financial situation. At this point, it’s a good idea to consult a financial adviser to help you understand how asset division works regarding retirement funds and other elements. They can also help you keep your marital assets separate from your personal assets.
Estate planning steps when diagnosed with a terminal illness
Once the initial shock of learning about your terminal illness passes, you will have more than a fair share of worry. Two concerns that typically plague terminally ill patients are transferring assets to family members and personal medical care.
Through estate planning, many families impacted by illness in Brambleton and Oak Hill have successfully addressed both concerns. Your plan will allow you to design your medical treatment while ensuring your family receives your assets as smoothly as possible.
Addressing healthcare concerns
There are generally two ways to control your medical treatment when seriously ill: A living will and healthcare power of attorney.
In a living will, you inform those close to you of the treatments you wish to receive and those you don’t want. It provides medical instructions if you can no longer play an active role in your care due to incapacitation.
What should you consider in a parenting plan for teenagers?
Many parents think it is easy to create a parenting plan for teenage children. In some ways, it can be simpler than making a plan for younger kids, but it is far from easy. In some cases, it may actually be even more complicated.
Most teens have more social needs (and associated events) than younger children. They are also discovering their independence and appreciate parenting plans that take their activities into account. Below are three other factors for parents to consider.
Plan for flexibility
Teenagers are busy people. They are developing outside relationships, exploring their interests and learning how to become a healthy adult. Ensuring that your plan is flexible enough to accommodate these milestones is critical to the well-being of your children.
Plan for changing needs
Adolescence lasts only a few years, but your teen will likely undergo many changes in that short period. In addition to immediate flexibility, consider adding a clause to your plan that provides for your child’s changing needs and lifestyle. Many parents in Ashburn and Brambleton include specific times or dates to reevaluate and possibly modify their arrangements.
Custody and relocation: It’s okay to talk about big changes
Whether you live in Brambleton, Reston, or Oakhill, you may feel that there is still a taboo when you want to talk about getting a divorce. You might want to discuss visitation and how you’d be affected if you chose to move to Herndon or Aldie, for example, or you might want to know if moving outside of Virginia would be a possibility.
You shouldn’t have to feel like you have to be silent about your divorce. You have a right to talk about it and to get the help you need to move forward with custody issues, concerns about property division and more.
Do you want to move with your children after divorce?
If you want to move with your children after you get a divorce, this is a topic you’ll want to discuss with your attorney as soon as possible. Depending on how far you plan to move away, you may be able to work out a fair custody schedule and not have many issues doing so. However, if you plan to move halfway across the state or outside of Virginia, it may be harder to convince a court or your spouse that this is the right thing to do for your kids.
Do you actually own your digital assets?
As you make your estate plan, you start by going through all the assets that you own. You know that it’s wise to take inventory at the beginning so that nothing gets overlooked as the plan gets to be more complex.
What you realize is that you’ve purchased a lot of digital assets. These could include audiobooks, e-books, movies, video games, TV shows and music albums, just to name a few of the most common examples. You may have invested thousands of dollars in these items.
If you go back a generation, your parents may also have invested a lot in these types of entertainment. But they were mostly buying physical assets, which then got passed down to you and your siblings. Can you in turn pass your digital items down to your family?
You may not actually own them
In a lot of situations, you actually can’t pass digital assets down because you don’t own them.
Can your spouse stop the divorce?
Your spouse tells you that they’re not getting divorced under any circumstances. They claim that they’ll just stop the court case if you try to start one. Maybe they claim that it takes both people to agree to get divorced, so you can’t do it on your own.
You’re shocked. You just wanted to bring it up to get the process started. You never thought they would be this uncooperative. Can they stop the divorce?
They can only delay it
The good news is that, in Brambleton and all across the state, a person cannot stop a divorce from happening against the other person’s will. They can only delay it by not cooperating – perhaps by refusing to go to court dates or refusing to sign the paperwork – but that doesn’t mean that you can’t eventually get divorced.
What will happen is that the court will be forced to issue a default divorce in your favor. This actually can help you in some ways, especially if you thought the property division process was going to be contentious. Since your spouse did not come to court, they don’t get to make any sort of demands on what the court rules.
Why every parent needs to have a will
Most children never need to spend more than a few days separated from their families until they are old enough to attend camp or prepare for college. Parents, especially married parents, tend to assume that they will support their children until they become adults.
However, in a small number of households, children grow up without their parents. The parents in the family, due to accident or illness, die much earlier than anyone would have expected. Typically, the second parent in the family can assume full responsibility for the children in that scenario, but sometimes neither parent is able to care for the children.
Creating a will is the best way to protect your family against this unlikely but very serious scenario.
You can name a guardian in a will
Although you might assume that your family members will just take care of your child when you die, there is no guarantee that will happen. Family members that you think will have the space and resources to provide for your children may not be able to step into that role when the time comes.
How do people hide assets during divorce?
One thing that people are sometimes worried about when getting a divorce is that their spouse is going to be dishonest and attempt to hide some of their assets. Ashburn families are required to disclose each and every asset that they own to the court as they end their marriage. But this doesn’t mean that everyone does it.
If you are concerned about this, you may be trying to think of ways that your spouse may hide assets so that you can discover those assets and ensure that you get what you really deserve out of the process. Here are a few possible options.
Putting cash in a safe-deposit box
A simple way to hide a small amount of assets is just to stash physical bills themselves in a safe deposit box or some other hidden location. People will sometimes do this by taking small ATM withdrawals each time they go shopping, then putting aside the extra money.
Your right to FEHBs after divorcing a federal employee
For divorcing spouses who are on their husband’s or wife’s health insurance plan, it’s crucial to make sure that you continue to have this insurance after the divorce is final. If you’re among the many Reston area residents with Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage through their spouse, you’re at an advantage over those who have coverage through their spouse’s private sector employer-sponsored plan.
However, if your soon-to-be-ex is a federal employee or retiree, you still have to make sure that you meet the Spouse Equity Act’s FEHB requirements. If you do, you need to take the appropriate steps to avoid a potentially risky gap in coverage.
Qualifications for FEHB coverage after divorce
Spouses can continue their coverage as a family member if they were covered under their husband’s or wife’s Self Plus One or Self and Family plan at least one day in the 18 months before the divorce. They also have to be qualified to receive part of their spouse’s retirement or survivor annuity.
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