Family Law

A TRUSTED FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY

Our office in Maryland offers a wide array of family law services to clients throughout Prince George’s County and Montgomery County. In addition to divorce, our office handles child custody and visitation, child support, modifications of agreements or orders, protective orders, and premarital agreements. If you or a family member needs advice or assistance with any kind of family law matter, call our office today at 301-875-3472.

Premarital Agreements
A premarital agreement, or prenuptial agreement, is a contract between two people who are planning on getting married and are looking to protect their assets in the event that they eventually split up or get divorced. A premarital agreement can take any form the parties like, and usually addresses issues such as alimony and separate and joint property of the parties.

Divorce / Property Division / Alimony
Divorce is the dissolution of a marriage. Persons who are going through a divorce need to have issues regarding their children, assets, debts, and property resolved. Along with taking the necessary steps to effectuate a legal divorce, a family law attorney is going to help a client address child custody and child support (if there are any children), spousal support (alimony), division of joint property, determination of separate property, allocation of debt, and more.

Child Custody & Visitation
In Maryland there are two separate types of custody–physical custody and legal custody. Physical custody deals with where the child physically stays. Legal custody has to do with the capability to make decisions in the child’s future regarding such things as education, health care, and religion. These are not mutually exclusive of each other. One parent can have primary physical custody and the parents can have joint legal custody, for instance. If a parent does not have physical custody, that parent can still have legal visitation on a set schedule.

If the parents were married and are going through a divorce or separation, the court will make sure that an agreement is made regarding custody or the court will determine custody. If the parents are not married or were never married, the parents can still independently seek a custody or visitation arrangement.

Child Support
If one parent has primary physical custody of the children, or if the parents have joint custody, one of the parents may be entitled to child support from the other parent. The courts look at each party’s source of income, other child support, health insurance, day care costs, and a number of other expenditures when determining an amount of support. If the parties wish to avoid having this matter decided in court, an attorney can be helpful in assisting the parties draw up an agreement for child support, or can ask the court to discontinue or reinstate child support.

Modifications of Agreements / Court Orders
In family law there is a saying that no court order is ever final. Regardless of the outcome or a child custody case or child support case, there is always the chance that situations change down the road and the issues need to be readdressed by the court. If there has been a sufficient change in circumstances regarding the custody of a child, a parent may seek a change in child custody or visitation. If a parent loses a job, changes jobs, or otherwise has an alteration in income that parent may ask the court to change the amount of child support. If you feel that the circumstances in your life or your child’s life have changed since you were last and you would like to see a court order changed, call our office today at 301-875-3472 to schedule a complimentary consultation.

Domestic Violence / Domestic Abuse
Our office handles a number of protective order cases, both for those who are seeking protection from a loved one or family member who is abusive and for those who have been accused of perpetrating abuse. A protective order is essentially a “stay-away” order. The person asking for the protective order is seeking that the other person not contact them, harass them, abuse them, stalk them, etc. These can be effective means to prevent violence from occurring in the future. However, protective orders are often misused as a means of retaliation or as a way of getting an edge in a custody or divorce case. Our office has experience on both sides of protective orders and can discuss all the options available if you are seeking a protective order or if someone is seeking a protective or peace order against you.