Protecting Your Property
Serving Clients Throughout Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Among the difficulties of divorce, property division is one of the areas rife with conflict. You need highly-qualified legal representation to protect your rights and your interests. At McDevitt Family Law in Fairfax County, Virginia, I can help you resolve your disputes quickly and minimize your legal costs. I am family law attorney Lisa Lane McDevitt. For more than a decade, I have helped clients with property division matters.
As an experienced, results-focused lawyer, I can help you protect your assets and come to an amicable agreement with your spouse or prepare you and your witnesses for full trial. Because I have restricted my practice to family law, I have acquired in-depth legal knowledge that will help me take a creative approach to resolving your problems and if in the course of negotiation we reach a standstill, skillful litigation tactics that my clients relish when the verdict is rendered.
Contact me today for a free initial consultation about your case.
Marital Property vs. Separate Property
Virginia's property division laws make a clear distinction between marital property and separate property. Marital property is defined as assets and debts acquired during the marriage. Separate property can include:
- Property acquired before the marriage
- Gifts and inheritances acquired during the marriage
- Property acquired in exchange for separate property
- Any increase in the value of separate property
To protect your interests, I will carefully go over details about your property, including when you purchased it and its approximate worth. Gathering account numbers, serial numbers and other information before you see a divorce attorney can save you a lot of time and money.
For more information about the legal aspects of property division, visit the Family Law Practice Center.
Equitable Distribution
Virginia is an equitable distribution state, meaning that if you and your spouse do not come to an agreement, your marital property will be divided in an equitable fashion, not necessarily equally. A court may look at, the length of the marriage, your and your spouse's monetary and non-monetary contributions to the family's well-being, and the tax consequences of the property division.
Combining extensive legal knowledge and strong problem-solving and communication skills, I will work to resolve property conflicts with your spouse out of court.
I will not take you to trial unless it is the best option for you. To help you make decisions about how far you should push with disputes, I will provide a cost-benefit analysis, educate you about what to expect and explain what your chances will be in court.
There also are exceptions to equitable distribution. If you have a prenuptial agreement, assets specified within it are protected. Prenuptial agreements are enforceable under Virginia's Uniform Premarital Agreement Act provisions.
Contact me at my Vienna, Virginia office to discuss your property division matter.
